Burning Black
by A Stereotypical Gamer
Summary: After the Battle of Haven, Yang is feeling vulnerable and has a lot to work through. When a personal tragedy strikes Kali Belladonna, Yang tries to bond with her and finds the mother figure she's been lacking, but the longer she spends with Kali, the more complex her feelings become... because of how much Kali reminds Yang of another girl she used to love.
1. Split Ends

**Burning Black**

By A Stereotypical Gamer

* * *

 **Chapter One: Split Ends**

 _Beacon, three days after the apprehension of Roman Torchwick_

Yang had intended to sleep a while longer, quite content to ignore Ruby's insistence they get up and prepare for the tournament and decide who to send ahead. Though her defeat during the train battle might've been enough motivation to sharpen her skills, Yang preferred to rest and recompose herself. And she wasn't the only one who'd felt that way, lazily indulging in the few quiet days before the Vytal Festival began in earnest.

Weiss had complied with Ruby's suggestion, and the two went off to train, as they often did, late into the night. Blake, on the other hand…

Yang wasn't sure what motivated the cat. Maybe she was seeking warmth and comfort. Maybe their brief bonding experience in the past week had triggered something within her. Maybe the brief moment they'd held each other during the dance had led to this moment. Or maybe this black cat simply wasn't so unlucky after all.

Yang had never had a better night's sleep.

When the light came in, however, Yang watched Blake climb out of her bed. "Are you afraid of what they'll say?" she teased, only half-serious. She didn't exactly want to announce it to the world, but she certainly wouldn't mind telling her sister and her teammate. Yang wasn't one for keeping secrets.

Blake, however… didn't say a word. She couldn't even meet Yang's eye.

Was she disappointed? Or ashamed? Did she feel guilty for doing this? Maybe she felt like she'd led Sun on, or betrayed him in some way? Or maybe she hadn't expected to carry things so far.

"Blake," Yang said, trying a more even, serious tone. "Are you alright?"

Blake still averted Yang's gaze. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Yang realized. She reached out to grasp her partner's arm, only for Blake to abruptly pull it away. Yang was silent for several seconds, watching her friend retreat. She hadn't been afraid of a more intimate touch in the dead of night.

Yang stared at the side of Blake's head. Blake looked at the ground. For several awkward seconds, the two were silent.

"Must've been some crazy dream I had," Yang suggested.

"Yeah," Blake breathed, still not looking at her. "Just a dream."

It wasn't the answer she'd hoped for. The words hurt to hear.

But Yang loved Blake, in one way or another. Having Blake in her life was more important than having Blake in her bed.

"I'm sorry," Yang heard her faintly whisper. Yang had no response to offer that.

She turned over and tried to go back to sleep, knowing that on this rare occasion, she wouldn't forget her dream…

* * *

 _After the Battle of Haven_

Yang woke with a start, glancing frantically up. She expected the top bunk to fall on her head after the night she'd had… only to find nothing over her. She wasn't at Beacon anymore. She was in Mistral, in the house her Uncle Qrow set up.

She was remembering her dreams a bit too often now. Yang far preferred the days when she hadn't, when she could sleep and wake without any sense of time passing in between. And more prevalently, Yang thought she preferred the nightmares she'd been having before to the one she'd had now.

She'd much rather remember Adam cutting off her arm than… _that_.

Yang turned her attention down to the metal arm she'd been sleeping on and the discomfort she felt in her side, hitting her in a slow, gradually building pang. She didn't usually toss and turn when she slept –not anymore- but tonight she'd rolled over and cold metal and polymer poked her exposed skin. She could try and blame that; she could think her arm was the reason she had trouble sleeping. It was preferable to thinking it was simply discomfort and not a particular memory haunting her.

It was still dark out. A quick glance at her Scroll and Yang realized she hadn't been asleep very long… they'd all returned and gone to sleep roughly four hours earlier. Sunrise was still a ways off.

All the tossing and turning had left her hair a mess too… in some ways it was quite fortunate she woke up in the middle of the night and didn't have to let anyone see the state she was in. At least she wasn't crying. Not _yet_ , anyway.

Yang dug her brush out of her pack and set to work. She briefly considered trying to return to sleep after the exhausting day she'd had –they'd all had- but was in no hurry to dream. Or have to go through this again after another few hours spent tossing and turning.

She doubted anyone was up yet –aside from the Belladonna guards outside- but then again, some of the Faunus who'd come along with Blake to help fend off the White Fang might've been up. The house had become quite crowded since the battle… most of the Faunus from Menagerie were on the boat anchored nearby, but Blake had brought a few friends to stay for the night.

It was great to see Sun again, even if their reunion had been pretty brief. Yang hadn't yet been introduced to the red-haired Faunus with the distinct freckles, but had heard her name was Ilia. They were both sleeping on chairs in the living room, while Blake herself was lying on the couch beside the coffee table under a thin blanket. When Yang stepped out from her room to try and quell her restlessness, she stopped to look at her former partner. Yang didn't _mean_ to stare, but she couldn't help it… it was so jarring to see Blake without her bow, even when she was asleep.

Yang wondered what had changed, even if she was thrilled to see Blake move past her need for that particular security blanket. It served as an unpleasant reminder for how cute Blake was, _especially_ when she was sleeping…

Yang tried not to think about it. It was hard enough getting used to having Blake around again. She didn't need to dwell on the past right now. She didn't need another reminder of how things went with them before; the prior day had been tough enough for Yang when dealing with her mother.

 _ **I'm not going anywhere.**_

Yang's left hand was shaking again. She reached over with her prosthetic to grasp her wrist, waiting for the feeling to pass.

 _ **That's all that matters,**_ Ruby had agreed. _**That we're all here together… right?**_

It fell on Yang to be the bigger person then. Blake looked repentant and sorrowful, and Yang had struggled against her own feelings, trying to prioritize how important it'd be for Ruby and Weiss –and for Blake- and then thinking on the knowledge that her mother was running away too, out of her life forever, and how much Yang wanted to embrace her again… _**Yeah.**_

It wasn't closure. Yang just did what she thought she should. She'd much rather embrace her partner again than carry on being angry and distant. She was so happy to feel Blake's arm again and to know Team RWBY had been reunited. But after that wonderful moment, she thought on the past again.

They'd need to work through it. They'd have a lot to talk about when they had the chance to hash things out. And she wasn't entirely sure they'd just be okay when it was all over.

Her hand was still shaking. It wasn't often the tremors refused to subside… she hadn't been _this_ bad since before she'd decided to wear the Atlas tech, when there hadn't _been_ a hand to reach out and will this phantom pain away.

Yang nearly jumped when she felt another hand grasp her wrist. She whipped her head around so fast, some of the split ends in her blonde mane leaving her vision partially obscured. "Are you all right?" an unfamiliar voice asked her.

It didn't sound threatening. Yang tried to calm herself, to not be so on edge. She relaxed her prosthetic hand's tight grip and lifted it up to brush her hair out of the way so she could clearly see this new hand holding onto her, to the thin fingers and the cool ring holding in place the sleeve of a black shrug. Yang's eyes slowly moved up to follow the length of an arm, then to a concerned… and _familiar_ face.

She was perhaps an inch shorter than Blake, and her hair wasn't as long, with taller and sharper Faunus ears, each with gold piercings –two in her right ear and one in her left- and eyes a brighter yellow than Blake's amber. In the early morning dark, one could be forgiven for mistaking this woman for Blake… Yang simply knew her partner well enough to immediately spot the difference.

Another person she'd yet to be properly introduced to. Yang saw her run over to embrace Blake and another tall Faunus man, and while she hadn't _immediately_ put the two together, when Yang saw how much this woman resembled Blake…

"Yeah," Yang said again, falling back on the same less-than-committal word to try and put another's mind at ease. "Yeah, I'm just… still getting used to some things."

This woman –Blake's mother- did not release Yang right away. She relaxed her grip, but still held onto Yang's wrist with a gentle hand. Yang turned her attention to those bright yellow eyes, trying to put on a braver, more confident face: the one most people would expect to see from Yang Xiao Long.

"I'm glad to hear that," the older Faunus confirmed, finally letting her fingers slide off Yang's wrist. They stood quietly a moment, just looking at each other before she asked Yang: "Would you like some tea? I'm making some to take out for the sentries standing watch."

That was thoughtful of her. And while it might've made more sense to return to sleep, Yang was equally eager not to dream… "Yeah… sounds great."

The older Faunus woman smiled at her and stepped past towards the kitchen. Yang took one last lingering glance at Blake asleep on the couch before her eyes followed after Blake's mother towards a lit room.

She was quite the sight. Time had been kind to her.

But then, it had been to Raven too…

Yang shook her head and stepped into the kitchen. Blake's mother was already hard at work on the stove top, leaving a handful of kettles to boil while she busied herself with chopping and grinding up leaves at a nearby counter, adding them in small portions to one cup after another. Yang awkwardly stood by, wondering if she should offer her help or simply leave it be, eventually settling on leaning on an opposite counter and just looking on.

"I'm sorry we didn't have a chance to be properly introduced before," the Faunus woman told her, still keeping her attention fixed on her work. "My name is Kali Belladonna; I'm Blake's mother."

"Yang," was about all the reply Yang was able to summon.

"Yes, you were my daughter's partner at Beacon, right?" Kali inquired. "I'd love to hear about that when you have the time. There was only so much Sun was able to share when he stayed with us in Menagerie."

That might've sounded appealing to Yang at one point. At Beacon, in the excruciatingly slow process of getting to know Blake, Yang had wondered what her family might be like or if they'd ever meet. It was a distant memory now, subsumed by more pressing and immediate concerns… and of course, that night after the breach…

Yang shook her head, trying to clear out the cobwebs and press on. "Yeah, it's… been an interesting ride."

Kali seemed to complete her work with the tea leaves and turned to look back. She seemed expectant, waiting for Yang to continue.

It'd been a long time since Yang thought on it. The first two days at Beacon…

When Blake had blown them off to read her book and Yang called her a lost cause…

When Yang was staring down an Ursa and Blake had interceded, dropping the Grimm and then giving Yang a coy, leading smile…

"I don't know what Sun told you, but I'll bet he never talked about a 'landing strategy'," Yang began. "Wouldn't you know it, I first teamed up with Blake when she dropped out of the sky…"

Kali seemed quite eager to hear about it. Or perhaps she was just being polite. Either way, Yang went on. It was something she could dwell on without being upset, without having to dwell on where things ended up. The good memories didn't turn to bad ones just because of one _particular_ bad memory Yang had of Blake.

"Then we go to get red sap in Forever Fall, and there's this weird situation going on with our friend Jaune and this other team CRDL, and Blake and I head over when we see them running through the woods…"

Kali was drawing nearer. Yang was feeling comfortable enough recounting things not to let it bother her.

"And when Blake ran we were all so worried. We didn't know about her and the White Fang, and hoo boy, did that turn into a whole _thing_ …"

Kali was standing beside her now, though no longer staring quite as intently. Instead, her attention seemed to be on the back of Yang's head. Or maybe the side.

"And we really wanted her to go to the dance after Sun asked her," Yang continued. At that particular moment she paused. At last she found herself unable to move ahead.

That was a big day for her, when she told Blake a secret. When she shared something with her partner no one outside of her family knew… at least at the time. When Yang tried to convince Blake to let her in by opening up herself.

She wasn't sure what to say there. Her relationship with Raven probably wasn't a secret now –maybe not even to Blake's mother- but more than that, what route should she take? Say that Kali's daughter was in a bad, self-destructive place, maybe worry her? Talk about Blake and Sun?

Mention how happy Yang had been when Blake showed up and danced with her?

Her gap in the story hadn't gone unnoticed, but Kali didn't seem concerned. Instead she seemed focused on Yang's hair. Yang abruptly changed her focus, adopting a more comfortable –if more practiced and less genuine- tone. "Um… see something you like?"

"You have such lovely hair," Kali remarked.

Yang hadn't heard it in a while. It was such a change of pace to receive a compliment she was honestly taken aback. She tried to remember her social graces, to accept the generosity. "Thank you."

Kali ran her fingers through Yang's blonde mane. Yang tried not to let the sight and touch bother her… she'd gotten a _bit_ less protective than she was before, and let others work on it. Ruby was a given, but she'd grown comfortable enough to let Weiss do the smallest adjustments when they were at Beacon.

And let Blake run her fingers through it on that night…

"So what happened at the dance?" Kali asked, straightening out kinks in Yang's hair with the gentle, sliding motions of her fingers. "Sun told me your friends in Team JNPR really stole the show when a boy walked in wearing a dress."

Yang couldn't help but smile at the thought, her immediate reaction. She tried not to let the smile fade when she thought of Pyrrha, tried to focus on the positive memory of her friends cutting a rug. "Well, you remember Jaune, right? Guy's a total dork, but he makes a promise and he's good for it."

She slowly shifted back to talking about Blake and Team RWBY, shifting attention to Mountain Glenn and their eccentric huntsman supervisor Doctor Oobleck. Kali was still listening intently, easily devoting her attention to Yang's story _and_ to straightening her hair in equal measure.

It had been a long time she let anyone spend so much time on her hair. Ruby knew how intensive the process was and usually only helped for a few minutes at a time. The last time anyone had devoted so much attention to it was when S-

The kettles interrupted her train of thought with piercing whistles. Kali gently released Yang's blonde strands and went to wash her hands in the sink, moving rapidly to pour the hot water into each cup. Yang had barely regained her train of thought and Kali had already finished her work, loading several cups onto a wooden tray. She left one other apart and held it out to Yang, the blonde staring dumbfounded at it.

Kali smiled patiently, her offering of drink still extended. Yang did eventually accept it, looking down at the concoction, a strong aroma wafting to her nose. Yang felt a little more awake just from breathing it in.

Once Yang had it in hand, Kali lifted the tray and set out from the kitchen. "This Doctor Oobleck sounds like quite a character."

"Oh, you have _no_ idea."

* * *

Once they stepped outside the house, Kali introduced Yang to the first guard, Saber Rodentia. Kali made small talk with him, inquiring about the state of his children and the other Faunus back on the boat in port. Yang also caught the name of Kali's husband –Ghira- and how much he appreciated the efforts Saber and his team had made to accompany them to Mistral. Kali went on to apologize for Saber and his team left to stand watch over her rather than allowed to rest on the boat with the others, remarking how Ghira would occasionally prioritize her safety over his own, leaving her to spend all night worrying about him while he was away. She seemed quite practiced at this, and Yang wondered exactly how much time Kali Belladonna spent talking to others and how much information she retained. Saber seemed to like Kali's tea and genuinely appreciate her interest… Yang could relate to that, at least. Whatever strange magnetism Mrs. Belladonna had, Yang wasn't the only one to take note of it.

But when they moved to the second post at the west end of Qrow's rented house, both women stopped abruptly when they found the Faunus guard assigned there lying face down on the pavement, weapons lying far apart and blood slowly leaking out from beneath him. Kali immediately rushed over, casting her carefully prepared tea aside and kneeling beside the Faunus, turning him over. The boy was much younger than Saber; he looked like he was barely older than Oscar.

Kali searched him carefully, before pressing her fingers to his neck and listening carefully. Her ears, usually pointed straight up, drooped ever so slightly and Kali lowered her head. "Poor boy…"

Yang had spent most of her early morning in a daze. She couldn't afford that any longer. Yang stepped over to Kali and put a hand on her shoulder. "Tell the guard. Get back inside and wake Blake and Sun. Stay with her and stay inside."

She hadn't thought to bring the remaining half of Ember Celica, but Yang _did_ still have one weapon on-hand, unsealing the barrel in her mechanical arm. "I'll handle this."

Yang had come to Mistral because she had someone to protect.

The more things changed…

* * *

Many Faunus would have to die for their dream to come true. He knew that. He accepted it.

He'd been prepared to kill dozens, maybe even hundreds of them –including himself- when they attacked Haven. But it hadn't been in service to the White Fang, it hadn't been to punish humanity; it was because Blake had defied him again, and _mocked_ him.

Once in his life, Adam wouldn't have though the boy deserved to die for protecting his chieftain's family. Even if they fought on opposite sides, Adam would've spared the boy's life and invited him into the fold out of respect for his bravery.

He'd been so naïve then. He'd let others tell him to be merciful, and all that had ever done was frustrate his efforts.

No longer. Now he had to act, swiftly and _brutally_ or there'd be nothing more to gain. The White Fang would already be divided after news of the prior night's events got out. Even those men who stood by and watched him unseat Sienna Khan might've been tempted to break ranks and leave him.

He needed to remind them of his power, to bring them to heel. But he wasn't so reckless, so blinded by the humiliation Blake had forced him to endure, to think he could achieve that alone and unsupported. The team he'd brought with him to assault Haven had been apprehended, his lieutenants in Menagerie had failed or defected, and Hazel and the support he was _supposed_ to receive from Salem had fled in the night.

He was surrounded by enemies and whatever power he had to bring to bear wasn't enough to beat all of them. Especially when he wanted to leave one of them alive… and take his time with those who'd betrayed him and endangered their noble cause.

More than that, however… more even than the White Fang…

Blake.

Blake _didn't fear him_.

She needed to be reminded. She needed to _know_ what she was and who she really loved. She needed to suffer just as much as he had, and this little stunt she'd pulled now… her debt had only grown larger.

But she was accompanied by too many. Including those Adam wasn't confident he could defeat.

He knew it was risky to act now, but he had to move quickly, before word of his ignominious defeat spread and his work had been undone. The first campaign of the new high leader of the White Fang might not be a tale of glorious victory, but it _would_ be a victory, no matter how pyrrhic, no matter how meager.

No matter how _bloody_.

Adam had waited through most of the night without rest –as was all too common for him now- and picked his spot. He broke into the house and the room of an inconspicuous looking boy in a deep sleep, exhausted from a battle he'd been woefully unprepared for. Adam might've killed him while he slept, but the boy's life wasn't the prize he'd come for.

Yet he'd left the battle with a prize… the very thing Hazel and Cinder had tried to recover while the White Fang were left holding the bag outside.

Adam didn't know what it did, or how it was activated, or what it might bestow. But if _Salem_ thought it could be of use to her, it must've had something that could benefit Adam and the White Fang too.

For a 'relic' it was remarkably well preserved, in a charming golden lamp.

Adam wasn't one to respect history. Not when he had his sword in hand.

Power. He needed it now, and he needed enough of it to change the course of events. He needed something to tip the balance back in his favor.

Adam hoisted up the relic and attempted to open the lamp, to delve into its secret…

* * *

Yang followed the route inside. She was passing by a sleeping Ruby when she heard something loud crash nearby. Dust kicked up from under the door to Oscar's room and she faintly heard crumbling wood and stone. Yang immediately rushed over, nearly ripping the door off its hinges with her prosthetic arm and forcing her way in.

Oscar was still in bed, coughing violently in the dust cloud. Cold air rushed in as Yang shifted her attention to the bedroom wall… or rather, where it had _been_ , the streets of Mistral filling her view instead with a few shattered fragments of wood laying on the ground.

"The relic!" Oscar shouted between coughs, "He has the relic!"

Yang wished she had time to get her coat; it was chilly outside. She'd also like to tell Oscar off for letting someone sneak in right under his nose, but at a better time… "On it!" She dashed out, following the other pieces of debris out into the streets.

She faintly heard Oscar call for her to wait between coughs, but Yang continued the chase. It was reckless to pursue alone, but Yang figured nobody was sleeping after that one. It was only a matter of time before Qrow or Ruby or Weiss or Sun ended up right on her tail.

Yang could at least buy them time to catch up once she found the culprit. She'd had a very bad day managing to recover the Relic of Knowledge, and she wasn't in the mood to let whichever of Cinder's cronies dropped by to steal it get away while everyone else was distracted.

Nothing fancy, nothing bold. Track and identify her opponent and draw things out until the cavalry arrived.

* * *

He saw things he'd never seen before. The image sharpened, the colors appeared more vivid. His hearing was better than ever, and he could listen to each wave splashing against the wooden pier. He could hear Faunus murmuring from the deck of the ship, looking on as their chieftain stepped out to meet him.

"Adam Taurus," Ghira greeted, stiff and formal. "I don't suppose you've come to surrender?"

Adam didn't answer him. He focused on his objective, setting the old lamp aside and moving both hands to grasp the hilt of his sword.

Ghira sensed his intent at once. The chieftain reached over to fling off his violet coat and unfurled the claws concealed in each fingertip. He roared at Adam, standing protectively before his subjects looking on.

He had an audience. Good.

Adam allowed himself that small indulgence before returning his attention to the task. He couldn't be overconfident. Ghira had been high leader of the White Fang, and had survived more than one challenge to his authority and multiple attempts to assassinate him. Men fared no better facing him head on than they did stabbing him in the back.

Adam observed the surface of his blade, Wilt, and the energy radiating off it. He'd already gathered the first portion during his brief fight against the poor boy guarding the house. He'd need a lot more to proceed with the next step.

It wasn't typical of Adam to wait, but he wasn't going to be reckless. Whatever power he had, Ghira matched or exceeded.

The chieftain moved in, slashing in wide arc. Adam followed the motion of his arm and moved his sword into position, predicting where the strike would land and how to refract it; using Ghira's own momentum to further empower his blade.

Ghira would be the avatar of his own downfall, he just didn't know it yet.

Adam could measure his Aura without his Scroll. Even when deflecting the attack Adam had still absorbed enough impact from Ghira to lose a bit of his barrier. He moved to repair it at once, compensating for the weak spot so quickly it seemed instantaneous.

Ghira struck again and Adam stepped back. From Ghira's perspective the boy seemed to have bit off more than he could chew and was being forced back.

Ghira was no fool, but he couldn't realize he was being played. Had this battle taken place the prior day, Adam would've already lost. At best he'd have searched for an opening and retreated.

Today he could see the energy transferring to the surface of Wilt with every hit. He knew that whatever dings Ghira put in his Aura, Adam had enough to hold out until he could counterattack.

He measured the length of each swing. He counted the milliseconds in each motion and the pace of Ghira's breath. He saw the Aura on the surface of the Chieftain's body, where it strained to accommodate him.

Another slash. Adam was running out of dock to retreat upon, and fell to one knee. Ghira reared back to attack…

Adam focused his attention on Ghira's chest. He relaxed his grip on his sword, using one hand to turn his scabbard, Blush, and unleash its pellet rounds right at the weak spot. Ghira staggered as he was pushed back ever so slightly by the impact, his swing falling short of Adam's face, one nail running over the Grimm mask concealing the red-haired boy's eyes.

But more importantly, his Aura was disrupted, and he was overextending. It would take him nearly a third of a second to recover and restore the damaged point by refocusing Aura from elsewhere.

Adam was faster than that.

He drove his sword up from his kneeling position, focusing all the energy Ghira had unloaded onto Wilt right back at the chieftain. Adam impaled him then, watching as Ghira's eyes widened and his mouth was agape. With his hearing now, Adam _heard_ the life pouring out the chieftain's lips with every breath he struggled to take.

On the decks of the boat, Faunus looked on. Some scrambled to come down and join the fray, but most could only look on in horror as their leader was bested. Most had the good sense to recognize their superior.

Those that came to help Ghira were not warriors, but townsfolk the chieftain enlisted. Dangerous when in great numbers… but when only a handful attacked a skilled combatant with a better tactical position, letting them charge at him single file on a wooden dock…

Adam withdrew his blade and let Ghira fall. He turned his attention to the civilians charging out with wooden swords and torches. They never even got a chance to take a swing. Adam cut them down, one after another with a single strike for most, and two when the Faunus had Aura enough to merit a second swing. After the fifth boy tumbled off the dock into the water, no more charged out to meet him. They were cowed now… cowed, but not yet broken.

Adam reached back to Ghira and hoisted up the chieftain by the back of his head. Ghira was still struggling to hold on, clinging desperately to his life even as it continued to slip away.

"This man helped found the White Fang," Adam called to them. "But in the end he proved unworthy of that honor. He let his weakness taint his view, and tried to make peace with vicious warmongers and expel and condemn anyone who dared to tell him the truth!"

He couldn't be too dramatic in his proclamation. He couldn't indulge for too long, because his enemies would have time to regroup now. He had to be expedient in shattering the hopes of those foolish enough to follow Ghira.

"There is no place in the White Fang –no place in the _Faunus_ \- for weakness," Adam continued. "I tolerated it once… I let you live in peace and safety instead of suffer alongside your brothers… no longer. No longer will I let us be divided. Choose, brothers and sisters. Choose where your loyalties lie."

He raised his blade and pressed it to Ghira's back. "And choose _wisely_."

He knew where to aim. He knew exactly where to strike.

The blade struck true. He heard the women, the children –even the men- scream. He heard Ghira draw his last breath.

Adam let Ghira's body fall from his hand and slide down his blade onto the wooden dock below. He flicked his sword and let the chieftain's blood fall into the ocean.

He turned his back on the chieftain's host, unafraid to leave them behind him. When he stepped off the dock and reached down to pick up the relic, his eyes moved towards a woman standing in his path.

He recognized that long mane of hair. But her eyes were different… when he saw them last, they'd been a dark and bloody red. Now they were terrified, wide. Her left hand was shaking uncontrollably, and she kept trying to raise her right, to point it at him, but always failing, always having the yellow and black prosthetic fall uselessly to her side. He could hear her breaths, so ragged and uneven. He could clearly see _fear_ pouring out of her.

Yang had seen him walk towards her time and again. She'd replayed the moment so many times, trying in vain to fend him off as he came closer with sword drawn, that sadistic grin on his face...

She had to do something. She had to raise her fist and fire at him. Even if she couldn't _beat_ him Yang had to at least _stall_ him until the others joined her and they could surround him. But she just couldn't lift her hand.

Adam looked down at the relic. He wasn't sure what it had imparted exactly, but with the way it sharpened his senses, with the way it had allowed him to measure his Aura and strengthen his Semblance… he'd been able to defeat Ghira and reduce his number of enemies.

They'd be coming to join her. And the relic would ensure they'd pursue him relentlessly. If he left it behind they'd prioritize securing it and keeping it safely hidden away and give him time to plan his next move.

Adam stepped past the fallen relic and towards the girl. She tried to raise her hand again but couldn't bring herself to. The best she could manage was to reach her right hand to grasp her left wrist, to try and steady her shaking.

She couldn't even try to step back as he drew nearer, leveling his sword to her. He pushed the tip right towards her throat.

He should kill her. But as he recalled, she hadn't been too difficult to deal with… that new right arm of hers' constantly reminded him of it.

But she knew Blake. That fear this girl was feeling now would be much more useful than her death.

"Tell Blake that I haven't forgotten my promise," Adam told the terrified human girl. "Tell her that if she continues to deny the truth then I will remind her what she owes." He lowered his blade and sheathed it. "Tell her this is just the beginning."

Adam walked past a still stunned and trembling Yang, who continued to stare ahead rather than follow the dangerous psychopath. She looked down at the relic, and Ghira's body beyond it on the dock.

Yang clamped her grip on her wrist. Her arm wouldn't stop shaking, and her breathing just couldn't seem to get under control.

The beeping of her Scroll broke her from her reverie. Yang eventually responded to it, reaching her steadier right hand into her pocket and answering a call.

"Yang? Are you all right?"

Blake.

She still had Yang's number…

Yang's only response was labored breath. She had to tell Blake what happened but couldn't force herself to say the words.

Couldn't tell her that her father… that Kali's husband… that _Adam_ …

"Yang?" Blake inquired again, her voice growing more frantic, "Yang?!"

Yang felt the Scroll slide from her hand and clatter to the ground. Now her right hand, her artificial arm, was shaking too.

Yang looked down at the Scroll on the ground, faintly hearing Blake cry out for her.


	2. We Have to Be

**Chapter Two: We Have To Be**

* * *

Qrow found her first. Yang wasn't sure how much time had passed; all she did was stare blankly ahead at the Relic of Knowledge on the ground and Ghira's body on the dock. The Faunus from Menagerie were still lining the ship, the white-bearded Captain trying to work his way through the throng of onlookers to step onto shore. Qrow collected the relic before turning to Yang, trying to ask what happened, encouraging her to snap out of whatever had reduced her to this quivering mess. He tried to remind her they were still out in the open and vulnerable, that there might be more at play than whatever she'd seen. He tried to appeal to logic and pragmatism, to remind her of her huntress instincts and get back up in case there was more fight in store before night's end.

Ruby and Weiss eventually joined them. Yang wasn't sure how much time had passed, she was still in a daze. Maybe Ruby had used her Semblance to catch up in a hurry, or maybe Qrow had been trying to reach her for several minutes. Once her teammates joined them, Qrow headed back to the house to get the relic back to Oscar and out of sight… if there was _any_ place they could still manage to safely secure it.

Ruby tried to reach Yang next, trying to draw her out. Yang fought much harder to respond the second time around, to show if not strength, at least some composure. She knew her little sister would be worried, but hopefully Yang could minimize that a bit by not shaking so much. Her hands weren't trembling anymore, but Yang still couldn't hear what Ruby was asking her… just watched her sister's lips move while Yang heard the crackling fires as the dining hall at Beacon slowly burnt down behind her, Blake half-carrying her away after Adam hurt them.

Weiss turned her attention from the sisters to the dock, and the Faunus disembarking to look upon Ghira's body. "Guys…"

Ruby turned to look. It wasn't the first time she'd seen death, but Yang wished she had the strength to reach her sister and cover her eyes just the same. Yang hoped she'd never lose that instinct.

Eventually Yang felt herself able to move again as she reached down to pick up her Scroll. She took a few deep breaths before she tried to speak again: "Blake? Are you still there?"

"Yang, are you okay? What happened?" Blake frantically inquired.

Yang tried to keep her breathing even and not betray how distraught she was. She tried to be grateful that Blake had been so worried for her, that she'd continued to try and reach Yang for so long. Then she focused on the charge, on whether the woman Yang had meant to keep safe before remained so. "Is your mother with you?"

"She's here, she's safe," Blake assured, "What is it? What happened?"

Yang wasn't sure she should be the one to deliver the news. Weiss had been so helpful in getting Yang to confront and work through her own anger and sorrow before, leading her through an emotional maelstrom with a gentle hand. Ruby had been the first in their group to break through to Blake, bonding over their shared love of books and compelling the Faunus to let down her barriers and break from her shell. They were just as suited to the task.

They'd carried enough burdens. It fell to Yang to be strong, and tonight she had spent too little time being so. "It's about your father."

* * *

Blake listened intently. Yang was slow in her explanation and disjointed in recounting events. Blake understood why she'd been so distraught as to drop her Scroll and leave Blake listening to dead silence for several minutes. Blake was having a hard enough time standing upright after Yang started recounting what she'd seen.

 _Your mother and I will always love you._

Blake turned her attention to her mother, talking with Sun and Ilia. Neither were very pleased to be left in the dark about what had gone on, but as was so often the case were able to relax when talking to her mother. She kept their spirits up and made them feel better about waking in the middle of the night and being caught unaware.

 _We never held anything against you, and I never feared that you would fall._

Blake thought back to returning to Menagerie, to sharing tea with her parents again, how her mother mentioned her father nervously pacing back and forth as he watched the Battle of Beacon before the CCT went out. He tried to play it off, to be the assertive force he always showed everyone else –probably because of how long it took for him to get used to having Sun around- before he could settle into being the softer, gentler man he was with them.

 _The only thing I ever feared was that you would fall down the wrong path, and I'm so proud to see you haven't._

Blake was frightened when she was around him at times, just because he was so tall and broad that he seemed to tower over everything. She rarely felt comfortable until he sat crouched down to speak to her at her level and drop his commanding, authoritative tone. Around Blake and her mother, he wasn't the intimidating presence he was outside. He just spent so much time having to be that man Blake sometimes forgot how gentle and kind he really was… and she feared quiet disappointment from that man more than she feared his brutish strength.

 _You pulled yourself out. You came back. There aren't many who possess that kind of strength, and even fewer that have the courage to face their demons again._

Blake was still getting used to being around him again, to embracing him after five years of never once being tempted to speak to him or seek him out… after so much time spent running from him and the life she'd so gladly discarded… to be with Adam. His killer.

Yang was quiet now, waiting for Blake to reply. Blake lowered her Scroll and turned her attention to her mother. When their eyes met, Kali was immediately aware something was wrong.

Blake had to look her in the eye when she said it. She had to speak clearly and make her will known, like her father before her.

* * *

Oscar was still very exhausted from his exertions battling against Hazel and Lionheart and his voice was hoarse and his breathing occasionally labored. When he managed to force himself out of bed to address Qrow he was having considerable difficulty just examining the relic, searching for some sign of tampering or perhaps to confirm its authenticity; that their assailant hadn't left a decoy to draw their attention. When he was content that Qrow had recovered the relic, he finally set to the task of answering the questions Oscar knew the huntsman would have.

"I'm not sure why the White Fang's leader wanted this, or if he intended to use it," Oscar explained, repeating Ozpin's thoughts rather than letting the former headmaster expend his energy directing Oscar's body, "But he _did_ use it, absorbing a portion of its power."

Oscar examined the golden lamp and the faint glow surrounding it. "Like me, this relic's power is finite. Adam Taurus took only a small portion, but the waters in this well cannot be replenished. I can't imagine Salem would approve of _anyone_ drinking from it but her."

"That why he gave it back?" Qrow asked. "He had a good lead on us. He might've been able to give it to Salem if he'd gone to ground."

"After his defeat last night –and based on what I've heard of his mental state- he may have been trying to take whatever advantage he could," Oscar speculated. "I doubt Salem has been inclined to tell him anymore about her plans than necessary. _If_ Adam Taurus was simply trying to obtain power… he succeeded."

"What did he take?"

Ozpin finally asserted himself, speaking through Oscar. "Most of us will never know the full extent of our abilities. Even those who master their Semblances or finely control their Aura do not learn the greatest limits of what they can do. While Adam Taurus may not have drawn all he could from this relic, whatever exposure he had _did_ imbue him with knowledge, as it was meant to grant to him.

"I cannot say how powerful he was before, but now that he knows far more than he did before… a little knowledge can be _very_ dangerous when it finds its way to the wrong hands."

* * *

Kali had insisted she be taken to him. Blake was not at all eager to take her noncombatant mother out with Adam still on the loose but eventually relented… Blake needed to see her father too. She needed to see what had become of him; what had been wrought by Adam's hand.

The Faunus who fought alongside them outside Haven had mostly remained on the boat, with a few working their way out to look over their chieftain's body. When Blake and Kali arrived they all moved a respectable distance away. Sun made his way over to address the Captain while Ilia sidled over to Blake's three teammates… more to block herself from view than to interact with them. Her defection was probably too fresh in their minds for any among them to be pleased to see her.

Kali knelt down beside him, her hakama pressed to the sea swept wood. She reached a hand to his cold cheek, running her fingers up and down along his skin. Blake stood at her side, just looking down at his body. She never thought he could look so small.

"He was sixteen when we met," Kali recounted. "He was always the biggest and strongest, but he was so young that none of the elders thought he could lead us… they just wanted him to fight their battles for them, to use his strength to further their own agendas and hold onto their own power. Ghira told them again and again that it took a lot more strength to talk things out than to fight battles… especially for him."

Kali continued to run her fingers over his cheek, up and down in a steady motion. "He knew he was stronger than everyone else, so he threw himself in harm's way time and time again. But he never _wanted_ to fight, he never wanted to be the aggressor. I remember everyone thinking he was strange, that someone so strong didn't want to take anything from anyone else, that he didn't want to force others to do things his way. Everyone thought he was mad when he said we should try and make some sort of peace with the humans, that we should fight them with words instead of fists.

"He was alone at first, trying to convince everyone to put down their weapons and open negotiations," Kali went on, reaching up to run fingers through his hair. "Even _I_ thought he was just going through a phase, that his idealism would pass and he'd go right back to fighting. But he never gave up."

Blake had heard some of it before, in faint recollections of childhood. Maybe after a long day holding up a sign and wondering what she'd achieved when the humans seemed so intractable… maybe when she'd simply been curious enough to ask.

Kali finally stood up from her husband's side. Blake went to hug her, pressing her forehead to her mother's cheek. Kali reached over to embrace her daughter in turn, bringing up an arm and pulling Blake's head closer.

"We have to address the others," Kali reminded her. "We don't get to grieve just yet."

Blake was close enough to smell the tears about to fall from her mother's eyes. Kali may have been maintaining her composure, but her sadness was forcing its way out. "Mom…"

"Their chieftain just died," Kali said, reaching up her free hand to wipe her eye as discreetly as possible before moving it further across to better hug her daughter. "They need to see a strong face right now. They need to grieve, they need to mourn… but it does them no good to be afraid."

Blake was still processing matters. She was a bit behind her mother there. "W-what do I need to do?"

"Stay with him here, and try not to cry," Kali instructed. "They're looking to us to be strong now, so that's what we have to be."

Kali squeezed her daughter tight for a few moments longer, quietly composing herself before she broke the embrace and stepped across the dock to talk to the various people who'd accompanied them from Menagerie. Blake could faintly hear them talking, as others tried to offer her mother condolences, to slowly break down or lose their train of thought and Kali interceding to comfort her well-wishers, graciously thanking them for their concerns and assuring them she would see to their safety.

Saber Rodentia and his guards stepped over to Blake. Rodentia removed his helm and stood before his chieftain, snapping to a salute. He held it over Ghira's fallen body, Blake still staring down at her father and listening as her mother offered support to another scared group of citizens, leaning down to hug a crying child and assure her things would get better.

Blake felt the tears welling up. She bowed her head ever so slightly, trying to conceal the sight by casting a bit of shadow over her face. Those on the boat might've been far enough away to miss it, but then… Faunus did tend to have excellent night vision.

Ruby and Weiss walked over to join her. Weiss moved between Blake and the boat when the former heiress leaned up to hug her, giving Blake some coverage. Ruby, of course, was quick to offer a hug when she felt someone needed one and flanked Blake from the other side, wrapping her arms around Blake's waist and pressing her head to Blake's back.

Yang was still standing a few feet away. She kept trying to take a step towards the others, to join and offer Blake some comfort. It seemed so hard to raise her foot and move forward, knowing she'd have to try and hug Blake again. It seemed almost… wrong for her to attempt so, as though Yang –never one to show much respect for personal space and boundaries- would be too invasive in trying to embrace her.

So she just tried to stare down at Ghira, because she felt less guilty thinking about how she'd allowed his killer to escape than she did when looking at Blake. It was easier for her to look at a dead man than it was to reach out and comfort her friend and… why? Because she was still angry that Blake ran from her? Because she had to see Adam again before she and Blake had a chance to really talk about all that happened between them?

Her left arm was shaking again… she instinctively reached over with her right to hold her wrist, to try and will the doubt away.

She felt an unfamiliar hand reach to her shoulder. Yang whirled around, instantly on her guard, though she quickly relaxed upon finding the red-haired Faunus girl drawing her hand back. "It's not your fault," she tried to assure Yang.

Yang had arrived too late to save Ghira's life. She knew that. She didn't blame herself for that; she'd run as fast as she could chasing Adam and the relic. That wasn't the guilt eating away at her now.

But it was another loss unavenged… another pain Adam inflicted without recompense, and her arm ached worse than ever knowing she might've stalled him long enough for Qrow and the others to finish him, to avenge the loss if Yang had only been able to attack a dangerous terrorist threatening innocent people.

She'd have had no problem attacking Emerald and Mercury or that big bearded guy who gave everyone so much trouble. She'd have had no problem firing a shot at Cinder, back from the dead. But Adam?

She still heard the fires crackling above her, and the people screaming for help outside as they fled from the Grimm. She still saw Adam standing over Blake, smiling maliciously as Blake reached an unsteady hand towards her, whispering something… begging her to stay away.

Yang then turned her attention to Blake at last, trying to return to the present. Blake was still graciously accepting the help from Ruby and Weiss, and hadn't seemed to notice Yang's absence yet. _Ruby_ , however, _did_ notice her sister's absence, eyeing her curiously.

Yang reminded herself to be strong for her sister's sake. For her _team'_ s sake.

Yang finally managed to take her step forward to join her friends, consciously reaching over with her left hand to squeeze Blake's shoulder, to once again set aside her doubts and be the pillar to hold the others up.

* * *

"Ma'am, I've never refused orders before, but you can't be serious," Saber protested.

After seeing Kali be so warm and compassionate throughout the night, the others found it quite jarring to see her so stern. "I am. Those are my instructions, and you _will_ obey them. Until we can assemble the council in Menagerie to elect a new chieftain, I speak for my house and with my husband's authority. You and your team will ensure the safety of the citizens on this ship for the remainder of the night. Let them get a few hours rest while the ship is still in port: I don't want them heading out on open water and attracting Grimm in the state they're in."

"And what about _your_ safety, ma'am?" Saber pressed. "The chieftain's last orders were to see to his family. Do you really expect us to leave you unprotected?"

"Not at all," Kali assured him. "My daughter and her team will be with me. Let Adam focus his rage on us and not our people. If you can't follow the orders I've given you, you can consider yourself relieved of duty and appoint a new squad leader."

Saber clearly wanted to protest further but eventually he begged off. "That won't be necessary, ma'am. We will not fail again."

"If Adam returns for them, contact us immediately," Kali instructed. " _Don't_ try and fight him, just do what you can to keep him away from these people until we can regroup. For now, try and encourage them to rest. They'll sleep easier knowing someone's watching over them now."

"Yes, ma'am," Saber agreed.

"I'll be back in a few hours to discuss the logistics of the return trip to Menagerie," Kali assured him. "We can only impose on this Captain friend of Blake's hospitality for so long and we don't have the food stores for this many people to last without resupply. There'll be a lot to do tomorrow- make sure we're prepared for it."

When Kali left Saber Rodentia to post his guards, she stopped briefly in walking back to rejoin her daughter, watching as four men hoisted up her husband's body on a wooden slab, covered by a thin sheet. She stopped to watch as they carried him off, thinking where his body would rest in the interim… probably the cabin they'd shared on the trip over.

It'd been a long time since she'd tried to sleep alone. It had only been possible this night because her daughter had been nearby, but even then Kali had been restless, waking in the middle of the night and opting to be productive. To think she'd eventually lie back down at home in Menagerie and know Ghira wouldn't be there beside her…

And Blake… Blake had to stay with her friends. They had a mission of great and terrible importance to attend to. She'd have to go… Kali thought one of her friends –allies?- had said they'd have to go to Atlas next. And while Kali was not at all eager to see her daughter go again, she couldn't just ask Blake to stay because without her Kali would be-

Alone.

There was so much pressing down on her now. She'd encouraged Ghira to take up leadership of the White Fang again, and Adam had thrown all that into chaos. What should've discredited him as a madman would only bolster his support base when word spread he killed the former high leader in single combat. The White Fang would be divided, certainly, but his loyalists would only fight harder for him once they knew of his achievements.

And she had to get her people back to Menagerie, and then perhaps they'd appoint someone else to shoulder the mantle of leadership. She didn't want to shirk the responsibility, she wanted the Belladonna name to continue to command respect, but she hoped this wouldn't remain her burden to bear.

Kali was able to smile upon seeing Blake embraced on all sides by her friends. Meeting her baby girl's eye Kali was able to hide her doubts again. "Let's head back and give you girls a chance to rest. There's a lot for us to talk about, a lot to get done… but you should get as much sleep as you can; busy day ahead."

Blake seemed willing to argue but did not. Her friends seemed all too eager to defer to her judgment, only briefly exchanging looks with Blake before going along.

Sun had never been so somber in all the time Kali had known him. Ilia was much harder to read, as more often than not her expression was crestfallen and tonight she looked much the same. Kali resolved to inquire about that when she had the opportunity… see if perhaps she could see the girl smile. Kali suspected Ilia would be quite lovely if she did so.

Upon return to the house, Blake's youngest teammate Ruby went in search of her uncle. Blake, Weiss, and Sun went to fill in their three friends from Beacon academy Kali had yet to have the opportunity to be introduced to. Kali waited a few minutes, just watching everyone interact, waiting to see if the children might be inclined to go back to sleep… but she quickly realized they were too charged for that, and headed to the kitchen to prepare something for them to eat and drink.

It helped to take her mind off things, giving her hands something to do. It had been a while she'd had to cook for so many, but it'd make for good practice trying to feed all the citizens from Menagerie. If she could do a practice run on these teenagers, maybe she'd make something acceptable for the others now under her charge and stretch out their rations a while longer.

Kali set a pot to boil and headed to the cabinets in search of broth or shortening for stew, only to stop when she saw a familiar lavender-eyed blonde in her path. She'd still had a few split ends left in her hair when she'd gone chasing after Adam. "Yang?"

Yang was avoiding Kali's eye. Kali immediately suspected she was feeling guilty… as though she expected Kali to blame her and had come forth for her penance. Kali immediately sought to put her at ease. "Oh, honey, it's okay, I know you-"

Before she could say anything more Yang enveloped Kali in a tight embrace. Kali was so caught off guard she stood still while the tall blonde held to her.

"I know you have to be strong now," Yang assured her. "I've been there; I've put on the same face you have. I know how hard it is to just slow down… I know how much easier it is to just keep everything going and not let the pain catch up to you. But you have a moment now where no one will see you. _Take_ that moment for yourself."

Kali knew she'd been caught. She didn't want to think about it, she didn't want it all to enclose on her again…

But when she'd thought of it before she'd been alone with her own thoughts, and not held in this warm embrace. Her own mind had been mired in confusion, not receptive of understanding and comfort.

She tried to look out of the kitchen, searching for her daughter. She couldn't see past Yang's long blonde hair.

Tears returned to her eyes as Kali raised her hands to Yang's back. She sobbed quietly, trying to muffle the noise as best she could in the taller girl's mane. Yang reached her left hand up to the back of Kali's head, holding her close and stroking her hair.

Yang had been there before, trying to be the brave face and hold everything together. When she'd had to take time to grieve -to _cry-_ she'd been alone. Not today. Today she could help someone else, if only in the tiniest way… and they wouldn't suffer that pain alone.

Yang felt the shake returning. She focused on the strands of Kali's black hair, on the sounds of her sobs and Yang's own quiet hush. Without needing to grab her wrist, Yang felt her hand calm itself, becoming strong for Kali's sake.

No longer troubled by doubt and fear –if even just for now- Yang held Kali close and shared in her grief, knowing they'd have to be strong again all too soon.


	3. So Hard to Love You

**Chapter Three: So Hard to Love You**

* * *

No one had much luck sleeping. Even though Ozpin explicitly intended to rest after exerting himself in battle against Hazel and Lionheart, he found himself awake and contemplative. Oscar was already exhausted from the fight and his body was a bit sluggish as a result, but with Ozpin directing his actions Oscar's _mind_ could rest a bit. He was catching on quickly, but he wasn't yet prepared to deal with all he political fallout that Ozpin now had to consider. There'd always been concerns more pertinent than that for him to consider; always problems more immediate and training more essential.

Now, however, Ozpin wondered what sort of mess he'd be leaving behind in taking the relic and departing for Atlas. Mistral was in shambles already with so many huntsmen dead and without a headmaster running their academy they'd be reliant on gifted but inexperienced warriors without any formal leadership. While his hand could easily remain undetected before he got to James to try and explain what had occurred, it was just as likely Atlas would find out who defenseless Mistral was and do something foolish to exploit the situation. He'd hoped that Ghira Belladonna would be a stabilizing element by installing a new White Fang high leader who could at the very least give Atlas pause before renewing their calls for war.

And Adam Taurus… Ozpin had never considered him a viable threat; merely another of Salem's pawns. Given how easily he'd been routed by the unskilled citizens from Menagerie, Ozpin expected him to run back to the queen alongside Hazel and the others, hoping to escape punishment for his failure and live to fight another day. It had never once occurred to him the boy might be so reckless as to strike back when alone and unsupported.

And worse, no matter how Ozpin might try and contain the situation, there were so many witnesses world _would_ spread of Adam Taurus killing the former White Fang high leader, immediately after the fabricated story of Sienna Khan's death by a human huntsman reached Atlas. It wouldn't matter what was true and what wasn't: Atlas would see infighting in the White Fang as another destabilizing element in Mistral, _especially_ considering one of the aspirants to High Leader was the wanted terrorist Adam Taurus.

James Ironwood may have had his better qualities, but unfortunately one of them was being a very competent soldier. He'd be all too keen on attacking Mistral while it was vulnerable, exploiting weaknesses and launching a preemptive attack. And when he could frame the offensive as removing a dangerous madman from a position of power…

Worse, if _Salem_ acted on the opportunity… if Adam Taurus were still in her favor, if he had her backing and enough surviving loyalists, it wouldn't matter if his White Fang were struggling through internal strife. With what few huntsmen and soldiers Mistral had left, Adam Taurus could use his brutal strength and reign over vast swathes of territory through fear and become _de facto_ ruler of at least part of Mistral. The fighting would provoke Ironwood, draw the Grimm, and further worsen relations between Faunus and humans.

A day earlier they'd won an enormous victory. One man's death had set them back so much further.

Ozpin could try and contact the Mistral council and inform them of the pressing danger, but that meant delaying his trip to Atlas further and he'd almost certainly need to reveal to _someone_ the former headmaster of Beacon had returned if he were to have any hope of being taken seriously. And if he _didn't_ contact anyone in the Mistral council, they'd almost certainly continue to lose ground.

Rush to Atlas and try to dissuade James from launching his offensive? Or stabilize the situation in Mistral by putting a stop to the rogue element in the White Fang? Ozpin had made enough mistakes. He needed what few resources were left available to him.

It'd be easy to simply abandon Mistral. It was the practical choice: take the relic and travel to the kingdom with the largest standing army and the best natural defenses against Salem and her Grimm.

Qrow would concur. A few of the students might agree… but not all of them. They hadn't been fighting long enough to learn how to ignore their conscience when they needed to.

* * *

When Kali joined the others she immediately turned her attention to her daughter, sitting beside her on the couch in the front room and placing an arm over Blake's shoulder. She'd spent so much time talking to _everyone else_ about her husband's death she hadn't yet had a moment to see how her daughter had taken it. Perhaps she was simply so used to Blake being stoic and quiet as to not expect anything from her. Or perhaps she thought all her time out in the field fighting for the White Fang would've steeled her, made her far too strong at far too young an age.

Her friends had been attempting to help Blake too, but many of them seemed at a loss on how to approach her. Kali had secretly hoped they'd have learned some techniques on reaching Blake and cheering her up, because it had been a _long_ time since Kali had really felt able to help her daughter work through anything.

No, even before she'd left Ghira and Kali Blake had already found her source of support: Adam.

Kali had entertained the notion of having more children, but Faunus had an unfortunate habit of leaving orphans behind or –in the case of the lucky ones- smuggling their children away from less accepting kingdoms. Kali didn't feed and house _all_ of them, but did her part tending to the influx of those in need of a maternal influence, or at least a positive role model.

Adam Taurus was one such orphan. He was only two years older than Blake but at times seemed much older: he was already world weary and cynical. If Kali were honest with herself she didn't really like him, but her daughter clearly did, and as he was still a child in need of guidance Kali did what she could to steer him on the right path. When he joined up with the White Fang and protested alongside the Belladonnas, it didn't matter where he'd come from or how he might've clashed with her: he was one of their own.

Kali wondered if Adam knew how she felt. He wasn't a fool, and he was very observant. But even though she worried about her daughter's growing interest in him, Kali never tried to stop them from being together, never tried to persuade Blake to find someone a bit… _nicer_ to go with. Kali couldn't blame Blake for being drawn to his strength and his bravery; those were the same qualities that led her to Ghira, at least at first. Maybe Adam had a kinder side hidden away, worn down by the cruelty of humans but brought to the surface with Blake's guiding hand.

When Blake ran away with him, Kali's first instinct was to find her daughter and bring her back. But after the initial shock, some part of her understood why she did so, and earnestly hoped she'd find love while she was out fighting for the White Fang. Kali and Ghira left them when it was clear they were losing support for their non-violent methods, but Kali believed her daughter wouldn't do unjust harm, no matter how she was swept up by passion.

When Blake returned to Menagerie so full of guilt, Kali knew exactly what had brought it on. She nudged hard for Blake to reconnect with her father not only for Blake's own chance to find forgiveness and atonement, but also to be reminded of a time when she could look to her parents for support. When she was very little Ghira carried Blake on his shoulder, and Kali hoped Blake would remember entrusting her wellbeing to others without being tainted by how things ended with Adam.

Kali discreetly gestured to her daughter while she was talking to Sun. When Blake found an opening in the conversation to excuse herself she did so, following her mother back to the kitchen. None of the others troubled them, leaving mother and daughter to talk privately.

Blake's partner Yang had given Kali time to let her emotions out before she had to resume putting on appearances. It was time Kali allowed Blake the same courtesy. "How are you holding up?"

Blake was still guarded and reserved, even around her mother. "I'm… okay."

Kali reached a hand to her daughter's shoulder. She simply met Blake's eye, patiently waiting for her to lower her defenses.

Eventually Blake did reply, though she was still holding back, her speech too composed. "It still doesn't feel real. I mean, I spent so long thinking you were on the other side of the world –when I was thinking about you at all- that if I went without seeing Dad for a few hours I'd barely even notice. We barely even talked on the boat trip over; I was so focused on planning out the attack and how we could stop Adam. All I talked about was saving Haven."

Kali squeezed Blake's shoulder. "He understood. He was very proud of you, and all the good you did. He was so happy to see you leading the others."

She'd hoped it'd be reassuring. It didn't seem to help Blake at all. "If I'd never gone with Adam… if I hadn't listened to him…"

Kali wanted to refute that, to assure her daughter that she wasn't responsible for another's actions. But she was struggling to find the right thing to say. "You were just a child."

If Kali had been struggling to comfort Blake before, now she'd _really_ struck the wrong chord. Blake's eyes turned fierce and she shrugged her mother's hand from her shoulder. "Not anymore."

"I didn't mean-" Kali began.

"No, I know," Blake replied. "But I was foolish to let him go. I goaded him, I embarrassed him… I should've known he'd retaliate. I should've known he'd do something like this." Blake turned from her mother, looking back to her friends. "I should've known there was only one way to deal with him."

Kali understood that instinct, to avenge the loss she'd suffered. Were she a trained warrior like Blake, Kali might well have sought the same thing.

But it wasn't what Ghira would want her to descend to; he'd never wanted violence done in his name.

All Kali could do was reach after her daughter as Blake returned to her friends, firm in her resolve. She may have been blinded by anger and grief, but she didn't need to see where she was going to know where she'd vent her rage. Her anger gave her focus, and her friends would be quick to enable her when chasing a dangerous enemy who'd already done her harm.

Kali's eyes slid past Blake to Yang, leaning against the wall of the front room with her arms crossed. The right arm, the black and yellow paint… Sun mentioned that Blake's partner was hurt during the Fall of Beacon, and while Blake hadn't been at all forthcoming about it, Kali suspected that scar on her stomach had been from Adam's blade, and Kali hadn't seen it when Blake fought in the opening round of the tournament.

And Yang herself… clearly she cared deeply for Blake, but the way her lavender eyes changed from one moment to the next when the blonde girl looked at her, Kali suspected things were a bit more complicated than they let on. Kali wasn't sure exactly what happened when Blake left from Beacon, but clearly her departure had affected her friends.

Was the arm Adam's handiwork too? Was that another thing Blake blamed herself for?

Kali slowly headed back to the room, confident no one would stop to inquire about what occurred between Blake and herself. She just quietly rejoined the others, keeping to herself while Blake drew the children's attention.

"I made a mistake," Blake admitted to them. "I was wrong to let him escape, and it cost me." She glanced briefly back at Yang, then to her other two teammates. "I didn't want to ask for help the day after I saw you guys again, but I didn't think Adam would be crazy enough to do this. I knew he'd become a monster… I didn't know he'd be _reckless_."

"He's only become more unhinged," Ilia chimed in. "After Beacon, after Sienna's death… he hasn't tempered himself at all."

"I didn't want to make this about him," Blake continued. "But he promised to hurt everyone I care about, to do more damage just like this." She closed her eyes. "I can't stop him by myself. But he _needs_ to be stopped. Before he hurts anyone else."

The others seemed quite keen to volunteer, only waiting to see if Blake had more to say before jumping out to offer their help. They all seemed eager to fight for her, and Kali could certainly be happy about that.

All, that was, save for Yang, who remained against the wall with her arms folded, saying nothing. Kali fixed her attention on the girl, tuning out the others assuring Blake they'd help her.

"I'm afraid it's not so simple, Miss Belladonna."

His voice cut through a bunch of teenagers talking to each other and instantly silenced the room. He was youngest of all of them, but still he commanded such authority. In paying attention to Yang, however, Kali noticed something new… a hostility in her eye none of the others had merited. Something about the green-eyed farm boy provoked her ire.

"There are other matters to consider," the boy continued. "Chief among them… whether we can afford the luxury of capturing Adam Taurus before Atlas brings war to this kingdom."

* * *

He knew when light would filter in before his eyes conveyed it to him. The sun would rise and he'd be exposed, and he knew exactly when he'd have to move and which natural barriers to conceal himself within.

Mistral police were still patrolling the skies –perhaps not looking for him, but unlikely to simply ignore him- but he knew with a simple glance how fast they moved and a good estimate of their field of vision. He could avoid them easily enough.

But his mind was working so fast now, considering _allowing_ them to see him, to concentrate resources in pursuing him in this location and then moving back into the city to pick off another target. Were he better rested he'd have already enacted the plan, but his mind would not let him subsist on rage alone any longer.

He knew so much more than that now. He knew exactly how long he should rest to be in peak fighting condition and could recall every detail of the routes he'd taken in and out of the kingdom, down to the number of cracks in each paved street to the branches of each tree that would fail to support his weight.

He couldn't yet predict how Blake would respond, because she'd already acted outside his expectations. But if he killed more of her loved ones, she'd respond one of only two ways… run from him, or run _to_ him.

Either would do. He just needed her to act.

Adam had sent the message on his Scroll to any remaining loyalists to come to the city. It didn't matter where they ended up; if they hadn't abandoned him he'd be able to find them once they arrived. So long as Blake was under the protection of so many huntsmen, it'd help to have a buffer…

But he doubted it'd be necessary. Blake would be rash and play into his hand, one way or another.

* * *

"…put simply, we do not have long to reach Atlas before word of Leo's death reaches General Ironwood," Ozpin concluded. "And once he knows the kingdom is even _more_ vulnerable than before without the huntsmen and the internal power struggle with the White Fang, he won't need to bother with pretense. If nothing else, the General is a man of action."

"And what, you'll just leave Mistral to Adam?" Blake demanded. "You'll let Atlas subjugate them just because it'll be safer for this… relic there?"

"Miss Belladonna, I'm all too aware that there are parts of the situation you're unaware of," Ozpin replied. "And I understand this is a difficult time for you…"

"Do you?"

Heads whipped around towards Yang, finally uncrossing her arms and standing up from the wall. "How many 'difficult times' have you imposed on everybody else already? Even discounting all those –I don't know- those _other_ lives you lived or however you want to put it, everything we've done recently has been following your plans. How many of those have you gotten right?"

"We got the relic, Firecracker," Qrow interjected. "Keeping that out of Salem's hands was the entire point of this, and we pulled it off."

Kali suspected she was missing some context, but continued to remain silent. She just watched Yang, trying to gain some insight to the girl's animosity.

"And then let that crazy jerk use it," Yang reminded. "You think we can afford to ignore that?"

"I simply mean there is a greater concern," Ozpin clarified. "We would be leaving Mistral in dire straits, and I am not indifferent to what they will suffer without huntsmen to defend them from aggression from Salem and the White Fang. But we have limited resources and little time. I _might_ be able to appeal to James and prevent the war altogether, but even if I can't, we still need to move the Relic of Knowledge out of this kingdom before either Salem or Adam can make another attempt to acquire it."

Kali wasn't exactly a tactician, but she understood resource management. They had hundreds of Faunus with them now… maybe not soldiers, but people willing to help and contribute wherever possible. But they were in a kingdom full of anti-Faunus racism and propaganda, without provisions to last more than a few days… probably just barely enough to get them back to Menagerie. And trying to bring them along to Atlas would be even more of a logistical nightmare.

They'd already done as their Chieftain asked and fought one battle more than they'd ever intended. When Kali met with them later in the day, she was almost certainly going to send them back to Menagerie… possibly even return with them, if she couldn't contribute here.

But Blake was resolved to pursue Adam now. How could Kali possibly leave her daughter when she was chasing after her father's killer?

But then, the people of Menagerie would be looking for a leader. She'd held the reins already, and they were probably expecting her to hold them again for a short while. Was she to send them home unprotected?

"Qrow and I will make efforts to arrange transport out of the kingdom," Ozpin decided. "It will almost certainly take time, given how the General has closed the borders. But when we have the chance to leave, we will all need to take it."

He was masking his intent; giving the children a massive loophole to leap through. Kali was sure they noticed what he was offering, but not sure how many realized they'd be tacitly agreeing to operate on his terms by doing so. The boy had a silver tongue.

Yang wasn't fooled, and said nothing. Blake, however… "If we work together and attack him in coordination, we can deal with this in a day. No more people have to be hurt."

Her friends were quick to offer their support. No doubt they thought with nine of them they could defeat Adam, no matter how dangerous he might've been.

Or perhaps only eight… Yang continued to remain silent, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms again.

* * *

Ruby waved Qrow and Oscar off before immediately turning her attention to Yang, still sulking against the wall. Ruby gave her a subtle look, utilizing some quiet, practiced sister communication to direct her. Yang suddenly seemed less interested in socializing than returning to her room, Ruby heading in roughly the same direction.

Once they were both safely out of earshot of the sensitive ears of their Faunus friends, Ruby asked: "Are you okay?"

Yang knew what Ruby was getting at, but stretched things out just the same. "I'm really tired of Ozpin keeping us in the dark, is all."

Unfortunately, Ruby was not deterred by Yang's plausible excuse. "She doesn't blame you for what happened."

"Good," was Yang's reply, much too fast to sound natural. She quickly moved to clarify: "I mean- I didn't think she did."

"Weiss pointed out to her what's been happening with your mom," Ruby told her. "Blake knows you were in kind of a rough spot."

Yang was sure Weiss meant well. But she'd really rather have been the one to tell Blake herself. Not that she'd had much success in talking to Blake since they'd reunited…

But Raven hadn't even crossed her mind when she watched Adam kill Ghira. Whatever pain Raven had caused her, at that exact moment all Yang's doubt and hesitation had been because of Adam. She wasn't any more afraid of him just because of what she'd gone through with Raven a few hours before… nor any less guilty of failing to act.

"I'm not going to say I'm fine," Yang acknowledged. "I'm not, not yet. But I'm here, and if I can be of some help, I will."

Ruby seemed pleased to hear that, but still cautious. "You sure you're up for it?"

"Yeah, always," Yang assured her. At Ruby's smile, Yang reached over and pulled her sister into a hug.

Squirming slightly so her mouth was free, Ruby asked: "What's this for?"

"Making up for lost time," Yang assured her, squeezing Ruby tight.

Normally a Ruby hug was all she needed to steady herself, to remember what was important and all that she needed to do and all she had to fight to keep. Eight months ago, it would've been enough.

That was before she found Raven. Before Beacon fell. Before she lost her arm.

Before she and Blake-

Not the time. Not a _good_ time at least. She had to focus on the more immediate problem. Adam had to be stopped _before_ they made their way to Atlas, no matter what games Ozpin was playing. Blake would never be at peace while she knew he was still out causing problems, and if they took care of him now the White Fang's threat may well finally be over.

The thought of fighting him again made her left hand shake. In Yang's arms, Ruby couldn't help but notice it. She looked up to her sister, quickly catching on she wasn't quite as well as she pretended to be. Yang tried her best to play it off, to steady her grip quickly, but the damage had been done.

Ruby had seen Yang lower than this, but it didn't suit the big sister to be afraid. And holding Ruby in her arms, Yang wouldn't allow herself to remain so.

* * *

Kali didn't want to send them away, but the citizens had already done what Blake and Ghira had requested of them. It didn't make sense to leave them in harm's way, even if they were just going to be sent back to Menagerie uncertain of their future. Kali wasn't sure she'd have returned with them –it was possible Ghira would've had to stay in Mistral a while longer to consolidate the White Fang's power base- but now she couldn't possibly allow herself to leave her daughter's side. The people understood that, even though many of them would feel bereft without the Belladonna house to guide them.

She wondered if she should go back with them, but then Kali thought about the return trip… how she'd spend several days at sea in a cabin beside her husband's body, able to think of nothing but how his killer was still out, freely menacing her daughter. And then of course, the people of Menagerie would see their acting chieftess retreat rather than stay and fight.

They probably didn't expect it of her, but it was what her role demanded. And if Adam was still targeting those Blake cared for, Kali's presence on the ship would only endanger the citizens further. So she ordered them back home, after some of Blake's friends loaded provisions on board for the journey out of Mistral.

She'd have to arrange some other transport back eventually, to offer her advice on appointing a new chief to rule after Ghira. It wasn't a duty she sought for herself, and probably not something Blake would want either, now that she'd finally found her friends again and they'd been so quick to embrace her.

Though that begged the question what she could do to help. She'd tried to provide Blake emotional support and fumbled her way through it. She certainly wouldn't be much help fighting Adam, and would probably only be in the way of Blake and her team.

Still, if she remained she'd be near her daughter and her people would be safe from Adam's wrath. So she'd stay, and find something she could do to help. A warm meal and a good cup of tea could make all the difference, and if she couldn't find the right words to help Blake with her grief then maybe she could reach her through action.

Sun waved to the Captain as he set sail. Kali watched as many faces she'd reached out and successfully comforted looked out from the deck, knowing her husband's body was returning home with them, to be guarded until his family's return and a proper funeral. One more thing for her to attend to when this was done… one more thing she might've been tending to already if not for Blake.

She just needed some way to feel helpful. Some way she could contribute and take her mind off the future and its many hardships, if only for a few moments.

* * *

It was a bit hard to discern who was in charge of the group at any given time. Ruby's mission was what led Jaune, Nora, and Ren to come along to Mistral, but they'd more or less fallen under the leadership of Qrow and later Oscar and Ozpin. Now that Team RWBY had reunited, Ruby was eager to work with her friends again in chasing after Adam, but Blake was quick to suggest otherwise. Ilia and Sun were going to stick to Blake's side anyway, so Blake suggested they move in two teams. Since Team RNJR had spent the most time in Mistral and knew the terrain better, Blake thought it best they work in a team together a while longer. Weiss was of the opinion she'd recovered from her injury, but because she _had_ taken a recent hit, she agreed to remain behind at the house and guard the relic. Which left room for someone else to join Blake, Sun, and Ilia…

But when Blake's eyes found Yang's, she quite abruptly shifted gears. "And maybe you should stay with Weiss, Yang. Probably better we have more than one fighter here in case Adam does come back."

"You really think you can go out there shorthanded like that?" Weiss inquired. She then quickly realized her poor choice of words and fell quiet, Yang still locking her gaze with Blake.

She wasn't eager to fight Adam again. The very thought made her twitch. But the thought of her friends going out there and fighting without her help…

"Yeah," Yang dismissively replied. "Yeah, okay."

The others seemed quite surprised to see Yang's quick agreement, but Blake was just as quick to brush past it. "Okay, everybody keep your Scrolls on and stay in touch. We see him we call in and regroup; nobody fights him, not even one team fights him without backup. Let's go."

RNJR cast curious looks back Yang's way. Yang didn't pay them any mind save for a brief glance at her sister, trying to wear a brave smile for a few seconds before they were out the door. Once Ruby was out of sight, it faded from Yang's lips as quickly as she'd formed it.

Outside, Ilia discreetly gestured to Blake. When Sun noticed the two fall behind him, he sped up, now quite used to the girls talking about something while he was out of earshot… and knowing they tended to get through their conversations a lot faster when he wasn't listening in.

"Is there something wrong?" Ilia asked. "Some sort of… I don't know, issue you guys are having?"

"No," Blake assured her.

"It's just… last night you were all ready for a big group hug and now you're going off without her. Isn't she your partner? Don't you _want_ her to come with us?" Ilia wondered.

"I wanted to give Yang some space," Blake explained. "After what happened with Adam… and after what I heard happened with her mom in the vault."

Ilia glanced back at the house. "I… think you may have misread that one, Blake."

"No, I didn't," Blake quickly replied. "I don't want to remind her of what she went through." She sighed to herself, taking a moment to compose her thoughts before continuing. "I _want_ to run over there and hug her, to tell her I'm sorry for everything that's happened. But I don't _deserve_ to. I don't have that right."

Blake glanced down at her stomach, to the scar Adam's sword had left. "Ruby and Weiss can help her through this; they can be there for her. They didn't abandon her like I did. They don't remind her of everything that went wrong in her life every time they look her in the eye."

Ilia blinked a few times. "Is… is it really so wrong for her partner to be there for her too? Even if she doesn't feel like she deserves to be? Do you really think she'd rather you keep away from her than _try_ to help her?"

Blake scoffed but offered no rebuttal.

Ilia seized the momentum she had. "I spent a lot of time not doing what I knew I should have –feeling guilty, feeling _wrong_ \- and it hurt every time. It may hurt again to help her, but it'll hurt even more if you just do nothing." She reached to her friend's shoulder. "Neither of us is in the shadows anymore, Blake. And whether you d _eserve_ to be or not, she _wants_ you at her side."

"I don't want her suffering for me again," Blake harshly replied. "My friends… I'm so glad they took me back, that they want to help me now when they have so much else to deal with instead. Yang's already lost so much because of me."

Ilia sighed. "Why do you make it so hard to love you, Blake? There shouldn't be anything easier to do."

Again, Blake didn't answer, focusing her attention on her Scroll and the topographical data of the region, showing it to Ilia. "Can you point us to where Sienna Khan set up her headquarters?"

Ilia would've liked to continue counseling Blake on things, but focused her attention on the task. "If he is going to fall back to our base in Mistral, this is the route he's likely to take…"

* * *

Weiss offered to take the first watch. Yang surmised it was because she was still feeling guilty about her out-of-turn remark or maybe to reassert herself and demonstrate the wound she'd suffered wouldn't impair her. Either way, Yang deferred and left her to it.

She had to be careful not to be _too_ ambivalent. If she let herself become further detached she might be uncomfortably reminded of her long stretch of depression and fall right back into the pit. Racing across a continent on her motorcycle had allowed her to avoid thinking about it, but the past few days had dredged up so many of the worst feelings she'd been able to push aside when she'd been chasing after Ruby.

Adam got what he wanted from the relic. Sure, maybe Salem would send one of her goons out to steal it if she thought they were vulnerable, but Yang couldn't shake the feeling she was left to meaningless busywork while her friends were out facing real danger.

Maybe things would be easier with Weiss around to talk to. Weiss had been a great source of comfort in the past few weeks, and helped hold things together for her ever since they left Raven's camp together. It'd be easy to just talk to her about everything that happened and was hanging over her head. But then she remembered Weiss had suffered too, very nearly dying during the Battle of Haven, and suddenly pointing out Yang's mommy issues and fear of Adam's sword seemed insignificant by comparison.

She should talk to someone, though… and with Qrow and Oscar out getting a ship and everyone else out looking for Adam, she only had two choices. Both of whom she really shouldn't burden with her problems, given the losses they'd suffered.

But she did need to do something to occupy her time, and if possible would prefer not to be alone where all her fear and resentment could fester. Maybe just sitting down and talking would help-

Kali was rolling back and forth on the bed in one of the spare rooms. Yang cursed to herself but couldn't really fault Kali for wanting to get some rest after the night they'd had. She'd just have to be a big girl and deal with these things without letting them bum her out too much.

Though she meant to head away and give Kali a chance to sleep, Yang lingered a bit too long and noticed how she tossed and turned. She kept reaching over in one direction or another, as though expecting to find something that wasn't there.

Or _someone_ who wasn't there.

Yang stepped inside. Kali heard her very quickly, her ears twitching just like Blake's did whenever someone walked into the room. The Faunus sat up in bed as Yang moved to sit beside her on the mattress, still a bit unsure exactly how she was going to proceed.

She had an idea that might help, and right now she really wanted to be of help. She wanted to do _something_ right and not just sit around thinking about everything that went wrong.

Yang kicked her boots off and slid over to Kali, gently leading her down onto the mattress. She wrapped her arms around the older Faunus and held her firmly –not too tightly, but snug- and pressed herself to Kali's back.

When she couldn't sleep, Summer would lie down and hold her like this. Yang learned to repeat the motion, holding Ruby when she had a scare or sorrow and needed someone to keep the night out. Yang's strength and her warmth comforted Ruby and she went to sleep right away.

At first Kali was taken aback, surprised by Yang's action… just as she'd been when Yang held her the first time, letting Kali finally have a chance to break down and let her emotions free. But secure in her arms, Kali was no longer reaching across the mattress in search of something she knew she couldn't find… no longer so afraid to try and sleep alone after years of lying beside someone she loved.

Warmth, strength, affection… all the things that reminded her that she wasn't alone…

Kali closed her eyes. A few moments later Yang watched her ears fall flat against her wavy black hair, feeling Kali's chest rise and fall slowly and steadily.

Looking at the back of Kali's head, Yang remembered this same moment when Blake fell asleep beside her, after they finally-

She clenched her eyes tightly shut and tried not to think of it. Tried to think of this woman in her embrace as someone in need of help, and not someone Yang went to help because of how much she reminded her of Blake.

* * *

Stepping out from Oscar's destroyed room, Weiss stepped past the guest chamber. When she saw Yang lying in bed there she stopped briefly, wondering why Yang hadn't decided to rest in her own room.

Blake's mother was so adorned in black she'd been hard to see at first. Yang embracing her made her even harder to notice.

Until, of course, Weiss noticed Yang's arms draped over her, holding her close…


	4. Embrace

**Chapter Four: Embrace**

* * *

Kali wasn't sure exactly how long she slept… she was grateful she'd had the chance to sleep at all after the night she'd had. She was still quite exhausted, but whatever time she'd spent in the comfortable bed asleep had resuscitated her, if only slightly. Though she wasn't quite sure what she should devote her attention to now, save helping to repair the damage to the house and taking stock of their supplies, depending on how long Blake and her friends would be pursuing their chase.

Though first she'd have to find some way out from under the arms holding her in place now… assuming, of course, she actually _wanted_ to.

Kali could turn herself only slightly to look at Yang, who as near as Kali could tell had fallen asleep at some point too. It had been a very sweet gesture on the younger woman's part, and had provided exactly the help Kali had needed at the time. Though with the way Yang had embraced her, Kali did… wonder about a few things.

Yang had seemed noticeably affectionate with her sister Ruby and their teammate Weiss. When Blake went to rejoin her friends after the Battle of Haven, there'd been a brief moment's hesitation before she knelt down to embrace her friends. Kali couldn't help but observe, noting to how many sets of eyes moved to Yang and waited for her to render a judgment before Blake could join in their group hug. And while Yang hadn't seemed noticeably distant with Blake after Adam's return –with her vitriol mostly directed at the green-eyed farm boy and the weird drunk huntsman- Blake's decision to leave Yang behind _had_ seemed…

Kali assumed then it was because Yang hadn't been able to stop Adam from killing Ghira; that Blake blamed her for it, for not arriving in time. And perhaps Yang had made such an effort on Kali's behalf to quell her own feelings of guilt. Whatever reconciliation Yang and Blake had made seemed undone less than a day later. If they had actually, t _ruly_ reconciled in the first place.

Blake was so full of guilt upon her return to Menagerie, and Kali thought –as was corroborated by Sun- it was simply because she'd left her friends. It was understandable she felt guilty because she'd left her friends behind in dire straits. It was a terrible burden to bear.

But between what she'd seen, what tiny hint she'd discerned in their body language and the time that passed between their actions –and now how Yang's arms tightly slung over her- Kali was beginning to wonder if perhaps it wasn't _friendship_ that had been damaged by Blake's actions before. She was starting to think there may have been more to it.

She thought… no, she knew Sun was interested in her daughter. He hadn't disguised his intentions at all, and Kali was quite fond of his direct and blunt nature. But he also hadn't pushed his feelings to the surface, hadn't brought them up to Kali nor expressed them to Blake -while staying at the Belladonna home and on the boat trip over- beyond attempts to be supportive and helpful. Kali had thought he was simply taking things slowly, or perhaps saving his feelings for a better time and place, after Adam had been repelled and Haven saved from his aggression. Now Kali was beginning to suspect that he may have been holding back –at least since they arrived in Mistral- not only because of circumstance, but because he wasn't the only one who may have had more complex feelings for her daughter. And Sun had done everything he could to prod Blake back towards her teammates, so perhaps he was content with _not_ having those feelings returned.

And perhaps Yang was the same, if she'd never brought it up…

Though those thoughts soon gave way to another thing Kali noticed: Yang was quite warm. _Really_ warm. Save for the cold metal of her right arm, Yang's body was burning hot pressed up against her. Kali soon started looking for a method of sliding out from under Yang's grip that wouldn't wake the poor girl, but Yang's grip was very tight. That had been quite comforting and reassuring when Kali had tried to get to sleep, but now it was quite an impediment to her escaping the comfortable bed. She tried to use her smaller frame and wiggle her way out from Yang's grasp, but without even waking Yang simply pulled Kali closer.

Ghira had often done the same, without ever waking. And Kali in turn often put an arm over her husband without ever waking up. Kali didn't _think_ people did such things unconsciously when it wasn't done for someone they… at the least, cared enough about to cradle in their arms in the first place.

Still, a question for later. Kali shifted herself back to face Yang, reaching a hand over to wake her, pausing abruptly with her palm before Yang's face, inches from brushing her skin.

Where should she touch? _How_ should she try and wake the girl? What should she say?

Kali eventually moved her hand to Yang's left shoulder, gently prodding her there. The blonde slowly stirred, blinking a few times as her lilac eyes met Kali's yellow ones. For several seconds they just looked at each other.

Eventually, however, Yang did relax her grip and withdraw her arms from Kali, rolling onto her back and putting some distance between them. Yang looked up towards the ceiling and inquired: "You doing any better?"

"Much, thank you," Kali assured her.

Yang reached into her pocket and took out her Scroll. She took a glance at the time and abruptly sat up, sliding off the mattress. "I should go and relieve Weiss. I'm sure she hasn't had much fun waiting around by herself."

"Yes… of course," was all Kali managed to say in reply as she watched Yang depart. Kali waited a few moments before she sat up, stepping to the door to peek back into the house. Yang stepped out into the front room and started talking to Weiss with the same ease as before, transitioning straight back into the chummy, caring girl she was around her teammates.

And once more Kali had to wonder… why exactly Yang wasn't quite the same person around Blake.

* * *

"Well, that was a bust," Oscar mused, Qrow still fuming and using some of his favorite four letter words in rapid succession.

"I thought these guys would do anything for money," Qrow blithely muttered. "They really think trying to travel to Atlas is so dangerous?"

"Well, with so many of their huntsmen dead, General Ironwood closing the borders, and rumblings of war reaching everywhere in the kingdom, I'm sure even smugglers are looking for somewhere else to flee to," Oscar suggested, mostly relaying Ozpin's thoughts rather than expressing his own. "Let me guess: he balked when you told him how many he'd be shipping."

"Never even got that far," Qrow replied, pulling out his flask and interrupting his recounting for a stiff (and prolonged) drink. "I told him 'Atlas' and that was that. I thought I could bring him in when I started flashing a few of my Lien cards at him, but no dice."

"Well, there are doubtlessly others who'll be easier for us to sway," Oscar suggested. "I'm sure there are some criminals reckless enough to take their ships towards a war zone…if we pay them well enough."

"Or remind them things aren't going to be much better around here in a good few weeks," Qrow added between shots from his flask.

"While we should certainly… be _aware_ of the possibility, I'm not sure we should raise that idea to them," Oscar replied, again speaking for Ozpin. "It might cause undue panic, given how quickly word has spread already."

"And will again once they know what's going on with the White Fang," Qrow agreed. "I wish we'd known about that kid Adam before, so we wouldn't be in this mess… I should've taken him out myself after what he did to Yang."

"It would seem the prudent course," Oscar nodded, Ozpin more or less speaking through the boy's mouth without _quite_ asserting control. "But then again, the boy could also distract Salem… make her believe the relic has remained in this kingdom and make her waste resources here just as she has at Beacon."

"You don't think Ruby and her friends will find him?" Qrow inquired.

"I hope they do, and that they're able to resolve things quickly," Oscar answered. "I hope they capture him or incapacitate him and we don't have to be concerned about the White Fang's internal power struggle any longer. But if they _don't_ we should allow ourselves to see an upside."

"Yeah, you _are_ pretty good about that," Qrow conceded. "Guess we'll have to take what victories we can get."

"We have the advantage at the moment and we should continue to press it," Oscar replied. "I don't want us getting bogged down in internal kingdom politics when so much more is at stake. Surely we can agree that preventing war between Atlas and Mistral and securing the relic from Salem is a higher priority than avenging one man's murder."

"You really think you can convince Jimmy to take his finger off the button?" Qrow asked.

"I think if I can't we will have _far_ bigger problems than Adam Taurus and the White Fang," was Oscar's dry response.

* * *

"Anything?" Blake asked her Scroll.

"Nope," was Ruby's response from somewhere in the forested regions outside the kingdom walls. "But it's been slow going. We've had to be wary about a small herd of Grimm and we kept our heads down for about half an hour. If this guy is half as bad as he seems to be, we thought the Grimm would be drawn right to him."

That would make things too easy. No matter how terrible Adam's spite, his fury was no doubt cold and focused enough to not be the raw emotion that would draw the Grimm. As reckless as his actions may have seemed the previous night, he'd still been rational enough to retreat after he struck. He was still abiding by his usual tactics.

"Keep looking," Blake replied. "We're still a ways off from the Mistral headquarters. I'll call you again when we get there."

She looked over at Ilia and Sun out ahead of her, deliberately moving at a slow pace. They didn't want to leave too much of a gap between themselves and Blake, traveling in a tight formation in case Adam decided to intervene and pick one of them off.

Ilia had the best sense of his tactics after Blake, and Sun had deferred to her judgment. Whatever power Adam may have gained, _if_ he was observing their approach he hadn't decided it was worth his time to fight all three of them at once.

Blake didn't want to be away any longer than necessary. Much as she was _not_ looking forward to meeting with Adam again, Blake wanted to stop him and put an end to his rampage once and for all so no one else could be hurt.

She'd seen him hurt enough. She'd allowed it to happen often enough to keep her up at night, and wondering if her father might've been spared if she'd simply invested her efforts into capturing him during the Battle of Haven…

Blake shook her head and pressed ahead, every bit as cold in her focus as her quarry.

* * *

Kali tried not to disturb Yang while she was actively guarding the lamp she'd retrieved from Haven, instead shifting her focus to Weiss Schnee and making inroads there, so they could at least have a cordial relationship. She initiated conversation by expressing her surprise at her daughter's friendship with the (she later learned former) heiress to the Schnee Dust Company, and it didn't take long for Weiss to open up a bit more, creating a clearer picture of the dynamics between the four girls and their team.

Kali was quite the practiced conversationalist –after hosting nearly everyone in Menagerie who needed the Chieftain's ear at one time or another- and expertly transitioned into a different topic, offering her assistance in fixing Weiss's top and patching the hole left from her recent wound. While slowly sewing the fabric back together, Kali shifted the conversation back to Team RWBY and their adventures at Beacon, with a particular emphasis on Blake.

Blake and Weiss had clashed during their first semester after Blake unintentionally revealed her former membership in the White Fang but the two were able to work past their issues quickly enough, eventually working together quite well in battle, most notably when they fought on the ground during the fall of Beacon. But that was getting ahead and Kali gently transitioned Weiss back to the interim during the second semester, where Blake had been dealing with some more personal issues regarding herself, the White Fang, the Faunus, and her growing obsession with a Vale criminal named Roman Torchwick.

Weiss was an intelligent and socially capable girl; she recognized that Kali was probing her for information. But she didn't gleam much past that and seemed understanding why Kali wanted to hear more about her daughter and whatever troubles she'd suffered through. Weiss hadn't caught on to what Kali was digging for, and seemed only too happy to enlighten her about the girls' friendship with Blake.

Unfortunately, Weiss _didn't_ share anything to confirm Kali's suspicion. She _did_ however mention that Yang had persuaded Blake to go to a dance Yang and Weiss had organized after having a long talk with her, which _may_ have been relevant… except Blake went to that dance with _Sun_ instead. But then, Blake had also insisted her first dance should be with Yang, so maybe…

Kali compared what Weiss had told her with what Sun had told her. She wished she had a chance to talk to Ruby as well, or maybe their other three friends who'd been staying in the next dorm. But the more Kali thought on it, the clearer it became who she needed to talk to.

Yang was just sitting by the open hole in the wall in what had once been Oscar's room, staring outside at the occasional passerby in the street. Weiss had seemed to prefer leaving up a tarp, but Yang was letting the afternoon light in. Her blonde hair seemed to shine brightly with the sun pouring through her locks, her whole head blazing and aflame in the light of day.

She wasn't sure how best to broach the subject. Or if she really had as good a reason to ask as she thought.

Kali took a moment to think things through. She was in a very malleable emotional state after what happened to her husband, and could have easily misinterpreted Yang's gesture –affectionate as it may have been- and seen something the poor girl never intended. And Yang being upset with her partner leaving in her time of need didn't have to be any more complicated than it sounded. She may have been looking for something that simply wasn't there.

Then she looked back at Yang and the distant, forlorn look in her eyes and wondered if… maybe…

Kali shifted her attention to Yang's hair. It had been hard to see with so much sunlight, but she still had a few split ends left that Kali hadn't had time to properly attend to before they went out to deliver tea to the guards… it'd give them both something to do to pass the time and a chance to talk to her again.

Later. When she wasn't so dedicated to working and switched off with Weiss again.

Kali finished her stitching, acknowledging Weiss might have a slightly tighter fit now but at least wouldn't be walking around with two big holes in her outfit. Weiss was more than grateful, and the two spent some time discussing the adventures of Team RWBY at Beacon, as Weiss explained how they had originally considered sending Blake ahead to the doubles round of the Vytal Festival tournament in recognition of her defeat of Roman Torchwick, but Blake had modestly declined and suggested Weiss go in her place.

Kali would've loved to see her daughter participate in the festival a second time, but that quiet deflection sounded like Blake to her. Though it did make Kali wonder why she didn't want to fight another battle at her partner's side…

* * *

Adam hadn't had much time to savor Sienna's throne. The fact he still considered it Sienna's rather than his own was proof enough of that. Still, he could sit it and enjoy knowing he reigned over the White Fang, even if at the moment it seemed all he commanded was a dark and empty room.

His most loyal followers had already been captured by the Mistral police. Adam considered breaking them out and inviting them to assist him, but they _had_ already faltered during the attack on Haven. To release them now and invite them back into the fold would be to _reward_ their failure, and logical as it may have been to bolster his numbers before inviting Blake and her friends into his trap, he was confident that others would answer their leader's call.

Word had undoubtedly spread of his retreat, and there were many witnesses who would corroborate that particular ignominious moment. But there were many more who would speak of him slaying Ghira Belladonna in single combat, and that would quickly overwhelm any other piece of news the Faunus would share with each other.

That might put a few in opposition to him, of course. He certainly hadn't expected so many from Menagerie to back the Belladonnas, nor accept their claim he'd killed Sienna Khan… but then, part of his own credibility, part of the reason Adam had been named a regional leader in Vale was _because_ Blake Belladonna fought beside him. He wasn't such a fool as to think people followed him because they liked _him_ : many even in his own inner circle thought him a bloodthirsty madman, but one they shared enough ideology with to tolerate and fight alongside.

But those who'd answer his call… it wasn't warriors he needed now. It was fast runners and clear speakers who'd change the fate of the White Fang and ensure that the right message spread across the continent and reached the Faunus.

A human huntsman who'd requested a meeting with Sienna Khan the same day she'd been killed had later been present for the Battle of Haven and for _some reason_ had decided not to fight against Ghira Belladonna and the army he brought with him from Menagerie. He left Adam and his small force of White Fang to bravely face down long odds… while their plan was undone by a defector from his inner circle working on behalf of the Belladonnas.

He'd have to frame things carefully, pointing out how Ghira Belladonna had no apparent difficulty fighting against his fellow Faunus despite his insistence on peaceful protest when dealing with humans actively oppressing them, and that Adam had attempted to complete his mission even at the cost of his own life _as well_ as sacrifice the seven soldiers he'd brought along with him… that the new High Leader would always lead from _the front_ rather than sit behind the lines like Sienna Khan or hide away, content to rule over an island like Ghira Belladonna.

This would create confusion in the short term, and he'd lose weeks or months putting his house in order tracking down every last traitor and failure, eliminating every weak link in the chain…

But it wouldn't matter if he had Blake again. The struggle would not be so difficult if he could have the missing piece of his soul she'd stolen on her way out. She'd never love him again, but once she was broken completely she'd relinquish what she'd taken from him and he'd be whole again and once he'd conquered the Belladonnas and grown beyond their name no one would challenge his rule again.

He didn't need to kill all of Blake's little friends. He only really needed to kill two others…

Ilia Amitola, for betraying him and robbing his mission of success. Even those opposed to Adam's rule as High Leader would agree he had to rid himself of the traitor and punish her for that defiance.

And Kali Belladonna, so there'd never again rise another with her name. Blake would be the last of her line and in thrall to him, and no one would dare hope for the founders of the White Fang to reclaim the throne they passed to Sienna and he now sat upon.

He heard them approach from the darkness… many of them wretches, some with nowhere else to go, several who followed Adam to sate their own vices and knowing Ghira's peace loving rhetoric would deny them their pleasures.

Murderers, opportunists, zealots, and discarded fodder… a motley collection returning to him because he was the only choice they had.

They'd do well enough in spreading the word. And those who served him well would see the glorious destiny he had in mind for the Faunus and for Mistral…

War was on the horizon, he heard. And if it wasn't as close as people whispered, the White Fang could easily bring it closer.

* * *

When Yang and Weiss switched off again the former used the opportunity to clean herself up. She'd woken late in the night from a bad dream, then chased after Adam, then slept on a mattress for a few hours all without ever stopping to shower. Her hair was a mess of sweat and matted strands and split ends and Yang very much wanted to rectify that. Once Weiss settled into guard duty, Yang made a beeline for the washroom and set at once to a refreshing bit of water.

She detached her arm and set to work. Even though the Atlas tech had proven itself water safe, she'd gotten into the habit of going through her motions one-handed. That was her new muscle memory, and what she set to do cleaning herself.

It made for a relaxing change, to simply shower and not think on all that had been troubling her recently. It also finally gave her a chance to fix all the little issues she was having with her hair, so there was another crisis that would be averted by her diligent efforts. She'd rather be out with Ruby and the others doing something _useful_ , but she didn't mind the little indulgence fate had presented her with.

She stepped out from the shower after several minutes and set to the real work that awaited her. _This_ would require two hands to get right without having to tie her hair up, and after selecting a suitable brush Yang went to collect her prosthetic arm.

She heard a tapping at the entrance to the bathroom. Yang whirled her head around as the door slowly creaked open, a familiar pair of dark furry ears poking through and then almost immediately retracting. "Oh, I'm so sorry!"

Yang wasn't usually one for modesty… she had never bothered to cover herself very much even when she barely knew her dorm mates at Beacon. But she _was_ self-conscious about one aspect of herself in particular: she moved her towel to cover her right arm and the metal bolt that would connect the prosthetic. Yang cared far less about anything else that might've been seen, but for the sake of decency put her arm in place quickly and covered up a few other key areas. "It's okay. I'm just finishing up. Come on in."

Kali did eventually step through, clad in just a black towel. Yang had gained a pretty good sense of her form when she slept beside the older Faunus, but now without her baggy hakama and shrug and only a towel to conceal herself, Yang took in _much_ more of her figure. She was a little shorter than Blake, but _noticeably_ curvier. Yang suspected Blake would look quite similar… and she'd be lucky to age so gracefully.

Yang shook her head and tried not to think such thoughts. Instead she refocused her attention on her hair. Now that her prosthetic was back in place Yang set to work brushing, knowing she'd need several minutes before she was done… but hopefully Kali wouldn't be bothered sharing the space for a while, because the finishing touches were bound to keep Yang occupied a while.

Fortunately, Kali didn't seem to mind and stepped past Yang to the shower stall. She couldn't help but notice seeing Kali from behind in the reflection of the mirror, watching her bare back and shoulders exposed for a moment before quickly –and quite deliberately- returning her attention to her hair.

Yang hoped Kali was in the mood to treat herself so she could be finished before the Faunus woman reemerged. Unfortunately, her hair must've been worse off than she realized… or she just wasn't trying hard enough because no matter how frantically she brushed she didn't seem to be making much appreciable difference, and only became sloppier in her motions the more her frustration built.

She heard the water cease in the stall. Yang determinedly focused on her hair, but when Kali emerged Yang's eyes did briefly catch her reflection in the mirror. Yang tried to blame this hyperawareness on her Huntress training… or maybe her ongoing issues after her trauma. It'd make for a convenient excuse.

Yang remembered how she felt when she saw Blake for the first time, as she'd been when she first appeared in the world. She knew the feeling, the fluttery weightlessness in her chest. She knew it well because she was feeling it again.

Yang kept at it, brushing frantically, watching as a few strands fell from her head –normally an unforgiveable crime- but she needed to think of something besides the woman standing behind her and what she'd thought seeing that same woman's daughter. Kali was in the process of drying off and covering up, but that didn't make it any easier to look away, only easier to keep glancing back.

And then Yang felt a gentle hand reach over and grasp her wrist, a warm hand taking hold of cold metal. She couldn't blame those sharp Huntress instincts now – she'd been caught completely unaware.

Kali reached up and coaxed the brush from Yang's hand. Kali set to work in a two-pronged motion, holding the wet blonde strands with one hand and gently pruning the rest with Yang's brush, eradicating the split ends with a one-two punch. Yang stood stiff, just watching as Kali easily solved the problem that had assailed her, the older woman humming to herself as she fixed Yang's hair with ease.

Yang had been surprised at Kali's boldness before when the problem assailed her late in the night, and was still quite unused to letting someone else touch her precious hair. She'd known Kali for less than a single day, and already she was comfortable enough to entrust in her something Yang's teammates hadn't earned the right to do for months on end?

Well, no, clearly not _comfortable_ , because she was still feeling so very off. But the longer she listened to Kali hum, the more she felt those fingers run through her hair, the easier it was for Yang to process… the less she focused on a beautiful woman who looked disturbingly similar to her ex-lover emerging from the shower.

That wasn't the memory haunting Yang's thoughts at all. The caress of those fingers and the gentle hum… it was a very different memory playing for her now.

 _ **If you won't let me cut it, the least you can do is let me fix it.**_

She'd been much smaller then. The mane of hair wasn't so wild, and the fingers running over her head were much larger. The woman fixing her hair was not tall, but she dwarfed Yang quite easily, and Yang loved to sit on her knee while she did her work.

 _ **There you are, my pretty little girl. You're lucky you can wear it so long.**_

Yang kicked her feet up and down, pleased that she approved. Yang turned to look back at her silver eyes and her smile as gentle as the fingers tending to her hair.

 _ **Now, what do you think of two tails? All the best dragons have tails.**_

Yang nodded and left her mother to her work, Summer slowly pulling the hair apart and finding a style that would fit for her daughter…

Yang snapped back to the present and Kali still hard at work. Kali seemed to be enjoying herself just as Summer had, and Yang was uncomfortably reminded of the night before… when the same thought passed her mind.

She was in need of a maternal influence. The time spent with her actual mother–no, her birth mother- had been quite personally devastating, and the way Kali tended to her now reminded Yang of better times and a better person reaching out to show her this kindness and affection.

But then, of course, were those thoughts about Blake, and how she'd longed to be held again, and someone who looked very much like Blake had been around to provide just that.

When Kali lowered her hands, apparently content with the work she'd done, Yang turned to meet her eye. At the time she meant to say a word of thanks, to express sincere gratitude for the efforts Kali had made on her behalf while having grace enough to avoid pointing out how Yang had made a fool of herself.

No words left her mouth. All she did was meet those eyes, a brighter yellow than Blake's… weathered by age, perhaps, but no less intense. No less _entrancing._

Yang leaned closer. She felt Kali's breathing on her chin.

Then she drew back, stopping herself before instinct took over. Kali's eyes widened as she realized what Yang had very nearly done… and what her action –or inaction- had just revealed.

Yang tried to speak again. But all she could do was stare into those eyes. Blake's widened the same way when Yang leaned in to kiss her for the first time.

This was wrong; Kali had just lost her husband. She may have played up her strength to everyone else, but Yang had seen her vulnerability firsthand and shielded it from prying eyes. Yang wasn't the only one longing to be held. Kali may well have had something more innocent in mind, but she wasn't shunning the opportunity before her. She wasn't running from what fate had put in her path.

She should turn away, she should stop before she did something that would cost her… especially when for the briefest moment Kali had reminded Yang of the mother she'd wished to have, rather than the lover she'd lost.

She should… just…

Kali knew what she wanted now. What was the worst that could happen? That Kali never helped her with her split ends again?

Yang drew nearer again. She wouldn't force it to happen. But she wouldn't hesitate. She'd wait to see if Kali would run as her daughter had.

She held firm and did not retreat. Her eyes still held Yang's.

Yang leaned forward and embraced her, pushing her up to the bathroom wall. Kali was taken aback by her strength and fervor, but made no effort to stop Yang's push.

So Yang pushed things one step further.

She reached her left hand to Kali's cheek. Kali reached up and placed her palm flat against the back of Yang's hand.

Yang took one last lingering look into Kali's eyes, searching for any hesitation. Any doubt. She found none.

Yang leaned in close and kissed her, finally closing her eyes.

* * *

When they arrived they knew _someone_ occupied the headquarters. The torches were lit, illuminating the throne room. They glanced around, searching in the shadows for him, expecting to be attacked from every side.

Blake saw him first, sitting brazenly upon Sienna's –upon _his_ \- throne. She narrowed her eyes and drew Gambol Shroud.

She'd brought two friends with her, including the traitor he needed to execute. As he expected, she'd done most of the work for him.

Adam stood up from his seat and smiled. "Welcome home, my love."


	5. It Will Cost

**Chapter Five: It Will Cost**

* * *

Blake immediately pulled up her Scroll and contacted Ruby. "We've found him. Try and get to us as fast as you can; we'll lure him out into the open and fall back as close as possible."

Adam heard all of it, undeterred by Blake's strategy. For the moment he had only three adversaries, and _that_ he could best. Until they successfully regrouped with their allies, _he_ still held the advantage.

Adam fixed his gaze on Ilia. She was one he needed to deal with -as publicly as possible- to demonstrate how treachery was dealt with. His memories of her battles were clear to him now, unaffected by any eidetic decay. He knew the arc of her whip and the voltage of her discharge. He knew where to counter and parry and how to cut through her electrical attack as harmlessly as possible.

Sun Wukong was the closest, probably the most eager to fight him. Unlike Blake and ilia, he didn't _know_ what he was facing and didn't have the intelligence to recognize he was thoroughly outclassed. Adam examined him briefly, searching his eyes for rage and purpose… he was seeking revenge. On Blake's behalf? Perhaps on Ghira's?

No matter. The result was the same.

Adam went for Ilia, knowing she would try to withdraw and Wukong would attack his flank. Adam had only briefly clashed with the boy the previous night, but could distinctly recall how his weapon separated and the number of pellets each shotgun discharged. Adam unsheathed Wilt to parry the swing of Wukong's staff, then retreated before the boy could fire at him, letting his pellets spray onto empty air.

The initial impact of his staff had already provided Adam with kinetic energy to channel. Adam set his course to draw out as many melee attacks as possible from the boy, carefully parrying each strike with his blade and then retreating to avoid the following shotgun burst. Ilia and Blake were more measured in their approach, waiting for an opportunity to attack rather than rushing into the fray like their blonde friend.

Ilia moved to attack Adam's flank, striking opportunistically at a distance with an electrical discharge from her whip. Adam didn't try to counter it, simply falling back before the electricity could properly conduct on himself or his weapon. Adam kept his attention on Sun, baiting the boy to keep pressing the attack, chasing after Adam as he seemed to retreat.

Unfortunately, it seemed Sun had learned his lesson from Blake the previous day and regrouped with the other two rather than try to press his apparent advantage. Adam sneered but didn't otherwise let on; he needed more to power his counterattack and had little time to draw things out. He could certainly defeat these three –and he _had_ to kill Ilia- but once Blake's other friends arrived he wouldn't be able to best them all… not unless his opponents acted the way he needed to.

He'd hoped Sun would be foolish enough to do the work for him, but now Adam had to place himself at risk. He refocused his attention on Ilia and her whip, firing a few rounds from Blush to observe her defense. He measured the length of her whip when she deflected the shots, then estimated how much more she could unfurl attacking at her maximum range, and how much power the electricity would lose in transition across an uneven surface.

Adam then moved to engage Sun again, even though he knew it'd leave his flank vulnerable to counterattacks from Blake and Ilia. Sun responded with the same flurry as before, and Adam raised Wilt to parry every hit. Ilia moved to attack and Adam tucked and rolled backward, receiving only a mild shock as the majority of the electrical discharge dispersed on the throne room floor.

He'd nearly collected enough, but he didn't want his Aura to take any more impacts than necessary. He'd need a lot of energy to channel his attack, to fully utilize the power of his Semblance. He needed to provoke Blake to action, to let her projectile rounds further fuel the energy encircling the surface of his blade.

But Blake had avoided firing; she was stoic and quiet, only ever changing position to help defend Ilia or Sun rather than engage him directly. She was waiting for her friends to arrive and not allowing Adam to provoke her. Her composure was making Adam… irritable.

He buried the anger below the surface, focusing on the task at hand. He had to provoke Blake enough to attack him, so that he could enhance the speed of his final swing. He needed her to act.

"Where's the other one?" Adam asked.

None of them answered him. No doubt Blake had instructed them not to, and Ilia knew him well enough to not try and match him in psychology. But Ilia wasn't the one he needed to break.

"I thought you had one other, Blake," Adam mused. "The human girl who left an arm in Beacon… why didn't she join you here?"

Blake didn't answer him, but he saw it flash briefly in her amber eyes… that terrible memory of her safety cut out from under her and her illusions shattered as Adam reminded her of a painful, brutal truth… of who she was, and who she was meant to be.

"Was she afraid to join you? I remember her being so fearless when she came to save you... when she _failed_ to save you," Adam added. "But when I saw her again she stood idle like a timid child. Did you leave her behind because she'd grown so soft?"

Blake resisted his taunts. He was needling her, but he hadn't said anything she didn't already know. He'd struck a few raw nerves, but until she acted all he'd done was grant her reinforcements more time to arrive.

"Or did you leave her behind because you couldn't bear to lose her again?" Adam taunted. "You could stand to let these two die, but you couldn't lose your precious _human_ **partn** -" He raised Wilt to deflect a pair of bullets from Blake's Gambol Shroud. He looked at her holding the weapon, smoke still rising from its thin barrel.

She didn't know it yet –and she was so convinced she was able to outsmart him- but she'd just handed Adam his victory. All that remained now was for her friends to join them, so all her hope could die in an instant.

* * *

Yang was always the aggressor. When Blake climbed into her bunk she'd been impressed by her partner's boldness, but it ultimately fell to Yang to make the first move, to pull Blake into an embrace and then initiate their kiss. So it was now with Kali, pressed against the wall. It was markedly less comfortable but she had much more room to maneuver. And Kali was so close to Blake's height Yang didn't immediately notice a difference.

She'd hungered for this and gone too long without. For months she'd sat at home remembering this feeling and knowing she'd never experience it again, that Blake had not only lost interest after their single night, but then left her behind and ran away after the fall. Tasting this again, Yang wanted to drink as deeply as possible.

Kali was at first so taken aback she was completely prone in Yang's embrace, but the blonde girl was so powerful she wasn't sure she could resist at all. She acted with strength and fervor on par with her husband, and Kali could do little more but be swept away by it, just as she had before.

That, more than anything, compelled her to respond to this affection, to return the kiss given to her. She reached one arm around the back of Yang's neck and drew her in, the other reaching down to anchor on Yang's shoulder, letting the blonde support her weight and hold her up.

Kali had been here before, submitting herself to power like this; giving herself over to instinct and impulse and letting her love take the lead. It felt natural to slide back into it, to subsume herself beneath her feelings and live only in the moment and the arms holding her up. She'd been terrified of facing life _without_ this feeling going forward and now that she had a chance to know it again…

She wanted Yang to push this further, to move the kiss past her lips and bite into her neck, to definitely claim her and make Kali her own. She wanted Yang to unleash all that she'd clearly pent up upon her.

Then Kali thought about the difference in the form upon her now… the definition of her arms, the ruffling of her blonde hair, the definition of her lips. This passion vented upon Kali was _not_ coming from the man she loved and married, but a woman her daughter's age Kali barely knew.

Kali had first thought Yang's affection towards her was a bit of misdirected emotion, something that might've been meant for her daughter. She'd also thoroughly enjoyed the brief moments spent helping Yang with her hair and then entrusting her own vulnerability to the girl, and briefly been reminded of a time when she played a more matronly role towards a girl who'd undeniably been in a bad place.

If Kali were to fight this, to push her away now, the efforts Yang went to in comforting her, in opening up to her might suddenly falter and the girl might stop whatever she was trying, and no longer open herself to Kali when she clearly needed to. But if Kali had known _this_ was what she had in mind…

Kali didn't want to hurt her, but she couldn't let this continue. When Yang stopped to draw breath, Kali reached up to Yang's hand on her cheek, pressing her nails to the girl's fingertips, slowly but pointedly drawing her away. Kali drew herself back ever so slightly, drawing a deep breath and forcing herself to look in Yang's eyes.

She was focused, but Kali wasn't sure she was the one Yang was seeing before her. Kali tried to draw her back, to snap Yang out of the haze she'd fallen into, and held that eye contact. "Yang, why did you do that?"

Yang didn't answer, just continuing to look ahead, her harsh breathing on Kali's lips. Yang wanted so badly _not_ to think, to allow herself to be consumed by emotion and the haze of lust. Kali knew the temptation; she still felt it. If Yang were to push forward, Kali wasn't sure she'd try to intervene again.

Yang tried to speak but no words left her. She knew that if she stopped to think she'd draw back and think better of what she'd done. But more than doing something rational, Yang was in dire need of making a bad decision. And the longer she felt Yang's breathing, the harder it was for Kali to resist that same impulse.

She had already started to break her concentration, inclining her head and exposing her neck. She tried to keep talking, to appeal to the girl beneath all this raw strength. "Yang, whatever it is you're feeling-"

Yang's right arm moved to the small of Kali's back, pulling her in tighter. Kali stopped talking at once, her instinct once again to allow her to continue, to let Yang's strength push her to where she wished to go.

Kali tried to tell herself it was too soon, that it wouldn't help either of them, that it'd just…

She whimpered. No more words left her. If she conveyed any wish at all, it was for Yang to continue in a soft murmur. Kali released her grip on Yang's left hand, moving her fingers down to the hem of her towel at her chest, slowly moving to lower it.

Yang's eyes looked down in anticipation before she moved to kiss Kali at her neck. Kali placed all her weight onto Yang, entrusting herself to the girl and surrendering completely to the moment.

And outside the bathroom, a very uncomfortable Weiss averted her eyes and decided to go back to Oscar's room and stare out the hole in the wall.

* * *

Adam had to keep attacking, if only for the sake of appearances. His strategy would depend on reorienting himself, but he couldn't move into position just yet. He _could_ however move Blake and those she'd brought along with her to a more favorable position, and Adam set to work pushing them to the edge of the throne room, allowing them to believe he was trying to press them against the wall and limit their area of attack.

He had to keep the deception going, and more to the point, had to keep up the noise. He'd already heard back from one of his loyalists notifying his Scroll, and he had to be careful to ensure Blake hadn't heard the same… or at least divert her attention elsewhere. Her cohorts kept trying to get out from under Adam's pressuring attack, and he repeatedly intervened to corral them, knowing it was costing considerable energy to keep them in place, but he needed only a little more time…

Adam heard them rushing in to join the fray. He retreated at last, allowing Sun and Ilia to spread out while Adam headed for the opposite wall. Out of the corner of his eye and through the thin slits of his Grimm mask he saw Blake's reinforcements arrive: friends from Beacon who'd fought against Hazel.

Adam focused his attention on the girl with the hammer. If she'd struck with enough force to send Hazel crashing through wood and stone, then with precise timing she'd be his way out.

Blake didn't know his plan yet, but knew enough to capitalize while the advantage was hers', instructing her friends to encircle him. Adam's window of opportunity would be narrow, because he had to reach the only exit.

Blake hadn't thought his intent to retreat. She'd ordered her friends to encircle him, to cut him off on all sides. In seeking to follow her instruction they'd given Adam his opening. He charged kinetic energy in his blade from Blake's shots, speeding up the arc of his swing, but he swung so wide there was no way the hammer-wielding girl would fail to catch him and counterattack.

When Wilt clashed with her hammer, Adam allowed himself to be overpowered and gently guided the girl's pushback so that he'd swing around over her head, using her opposing momentum. Adam winced at the impact of her heavy weapon but achieved his aim, landing behind his eight adversaries in the entrance to the throne room.

He faintly heard Blake call to the others not to let him go, but he'd already dashed for the exit. He heard their weapons transform to fire projectiles after him, but he didn't break his stride, simply focusing some of his remaining Aura to protect his legs as he ran. Other bullets struck his back but he paid the impacts –and the pain- no heed.

Another sound drew his attention as footsteps rapidly approached in pursuit of him, moving faster than his own motion. Either one of Blake's friends was a far more advanced hunter than they seemed or they had a power to keep pace with him.

It wasn't as far as he meant to travel, but Adam enacted his strategy, whirling around and unsheathing Wilt. The silver-eyed girl, the youngest among Blake's pool of allies, screeched to a halt when she saw Adam draw his blade.

She'd seen him unleash it on her teammate. She was right to fear his sword.

But she wasn't his target.

Adam swung, pouring his Aura into the collected pool of kinetic energy coating the surface of his sword. A burst of air pressure cut past the silver-eyed girl's head into the arch of the twin double doors leading into the throne room. Stone and wood crumpled under the force, collapsing down. The girl jumped back, narrowly avoiding debris as it all fell in place, sealing the entrance to Sienna's throne room.

Adam didn't stop to admire his handiwork, pulling out his Scroll and rushing outside, to his waiting loyalists planting the remaining explosives left unused from the Battle of Haven. He set at once to activate them, to collapse the White Fang's headquarters to rubble.

He didn't wait to see if they'd all managed to place their bombs and retreat to a minimum safe distance. He set them off regardless, detonating as many as he could with his Scroll and letting the explosions rain debris down.

Adam watched as the seat he'd always hoped to occupy, the birthright of the White Fang High Leader, slowly crumbled, concaving in on itself. He wasn't sure how many of his men he lost, but if he'd done things correctly… _none_ of Blake's allies had died.

Yet.

* * *

Ruby coughed violently from somewhere under Jaune's shield, having taken the worst of the dust from the initial collapse of the door. Nora was still fending off the occasional falling rock, while Sun took stock around the room. "Is everyone all right?"

Nora coughed but sent a thumbs up his way. Blake turned to Ilia. "Is there another way out of here?"

Ilia set to work, looking at the support columns around the room. "I'm sure Sienna Khan would've been wary of assassination attempts. She wasn't such a fool as to leave no escape route."

Ren and Sun joined her in searching for any sort of hidden exit. Jaune tended to Ruby, and once she asserted she was all right the two regrouped with Blake near the center of the room. Ruby glanced back at the debris blocking their way. "What do we do now?"

Blake wasn't sure how to answer that question. She'd expected Adam to leave _her_ alive but be absolutely merciless in attacking her friends. Blake expected Adam to find some way to outmaneuver her, but why hadn't he at least _tried_ to kill any of her friends? What sort of game was he playing?

As if to answer her troubled thoughts, her Scroll buzzed at her. When Blake saw his name her first thought was to ignore it, but the sound carried and reverberated through the room and made the others aware he was trying to reach them.

Eventually Blake replied, answering his call and putting him on speaker, holding the Scroll flat in front of her and not looking at the screen. "What do you want, Adam?"

"The same thing I've always wanted," Adam assured her. "Though this time it'll cost you."

Beacon was still fresh in many of her friends' minds. It wasn't surprising Adam thought he'd yet to harm her enough, but Blake kept her composure, not letting him know he'd struck a nerve. She refocused her attention on the damage done. "Why have you done this? Do you really think the White Fang will just let you destroy their headquarters? Do you think they'll still follow you after you lost their seat of power?"

" _ **I**_ am the White Fang's power," Adam dismissively replied. "And they _will_ follow me, because soon they'll have nowhere else to turn. Would you care to join me and see it firsthand?"

Blake's composure broke –ever so slightly- and she let out an indignant: "I will _never-_ "

"Think before you speak, my love," Adam advised. "Because you're about to decide who lives and who dies today."

"If you think I'll let you-"

"I told you, Blake," Adam interjected, "that it will cost. One way or another, I'll take something from you today. And you'll get to choose which it is."

He was trying to reassert himself, to demonstrate his dominance. After Blake and her friends humiliated him during the Battle of Haven, he needed some way to reassure his own ego and mitigate the effects of his defeat. Blake didn't want to indulge him. She didn't want to feed his delusions any further.

"Surrender Ilia to me," Adam instructed. "Give her to me alive and you and your friends from school can go on your way. Let me have my traitor and live to fight another day."

Ilia glanced briefly over from her search, her eyes meeting Blake's. Blake instantly shook her head. "You won't have her, Adam."

Though it was easy enough to refuse him, Blake quickly realized things weren't what they seemed. Adam was somehow putting aside his obsession with her and he was willing to let most of her friends live? It made sense that he needed to put his house in order, and that he might be blinded enough to prioritize punishing a traitor in his ranks, but when had Adam ever been willing to spare human lives before? When had he decided to put the White Fang ahead of his cruel intentions for Blake?

"Very well," Adam agreed. "Wait for me in the throne room and think about what you could've had. Think about where you might've been if you'd never run."

Blake didn't dwell on the thought long. Once she'd wished to be with him, but to sit a throne and lord over the White Fang? Those seeking equality didn't sit thrones and lord over those beneath them.

"Starve and wither in the dark, knowing that tomorrow you will be the last of your name," Adam promised her. "She didn't go back with them to Menagerie… instead she stayed behind to protect you."

Blake's heart stopped. She tried to reengage with him. "Adam…"

"I made you a promise," Adam reminded her. "If it helps, don't think of it as me taking her life… think of it as her _giving_ it for you."

"No, Adam, don't-"

"Thoughtful of you to leave her behind and chase me with everyone else," Adam mused. "I doubt she enjoyed her final day, but I'll be sure to remind her that her daughter cared enough to think of her in her final moments."

"Adam!" Blake cried as the communication ceased. She clenched the Scroll tightly and frantically looked back at her friends. "We have to find a way out, now! He already has a head start on us!"

"And only Weiss and Yang are still there," Ruby thought. "Maybe if we can get close enough to warn them, or call Qrow and Oscar…"

Blake frantically joined Ilia and Ren in the search, the others following shortly after. Ruby was every bit as determined as Blake to find a way out, because she had nearly as many loved ones in harm's way. Jaune directed Nora to the collapsed entrance, the two working to try and clear debris while the others searched for any alternative exit.

More dust and rocks fell from the ceiling. If the structure continued to become more unstable…

Blake tried not to let the thought bother her and tried to stay focused. Adam robbed her of one parent, and she would _not_ allow him to take another.

* * *

Somewhere in the haze of her actions, Yang felt Kali's fingers run through her hair again. At first it compelled Yang to continue, but the more frequent she felt that tug on her blonde locks, the less Yang thought of the night at Beacon with Blake and the more she thought of years ago in Patch with Summer, and soon it was impossible for her to separate the thoughts.

Yang finally withdrew herself from Kali, watching those yellow eyes slowly open. Upon seeing her fragmented reflection in Kali's eyes, Yang realized what she'd done.

The woman Yang pinned to the wall had just lost her husband, and despite experiencing that tragedy - a tragedy Yang had already witnessed break her father completely- Kali still reached out to be strong on her daughter's behalf and then made efforts to help Yang with her own painful isolation. And why?

Because she looked so much like Blake? Because Yang couldn't let go of the single time she and Blake made love and in her contorted emotional state she'd been willing to accept a proxy?

Yang fought hard against those thoughts. She wasn't just driven by some obsession with Blake, but motivated by some interest in…

Interest in a woman she'd met less than two days before? There had to be something more than just that she resembled Blake, there had to be something more than some dark, _vengeful_ lust driving her to this…

But the more she searched for an answer the more apparent it became. She was driven by her feelings for Blake, and she couldn't let go of them. She couldn't simply move on from the past.

That sounded… distressingly familiar.

"Yang?" Kali inquired.

Kali had given in to the same strong feeling. Surely there was something there, some mutual attraction, something about _Yang_ that brought this passion out from her. There was more there, it wasn't just-

Yang wanted to continue, to just _stop thinking_ and act. But she couldn't help it any longer. Doubt had crept in and no matter how she tried to force it back out she couldn't respond to her own desires. She no longer knew what her desires were, or how far she might've been willing to take them.

Yang tried to respond to Kali but couldn't think of what to say. She averted her eyes and slowly withdrew, slinking away in shame and looking at the floor as she walked out from the bathroom, a befuddled Kali left to watch her go.

Yang quickly went to her bedroom and changed. Her hair had been straightened out, which made the process far faster than normal. Usually she had to wait several minutes for it all to dry before she tried to brush it out and then wiggle her head through a collar. Kali's fingers had taken care of-

It had been such a reassuring feeling a few minutes ago. Now it haunted her, thinking she'd done something wrong, that she'd betrayed the trust of someone who'd showed her kindness and affection and Yang had overreached.

She heard a knocking at her door. Yang hoped it wasn't Kali. She really didn't want to try and explain herself now. Nor did she know what she'd do if Kali were in her sight again and her guilt again faltered in the face of a deeper desire forcing its way back out.

But when Yang opened the door it was Weiss standing before her, though pointedly avoiding her gaze. "Oh, hey. Sorry I took so long," Yang acknowledged, trying to play things off. "My hair needed some work; you know how it is."

"Yes, I remember," Weiss agreed, still not meeting Yang's eye. "I saw that you…" She coughed in a noticeably awkward manner. "…you had some help."

Weiss would occasionally avert her gaze when deep in thought, but she didn't usually have trouble looking someone in the eye. Not unless she had something more important on her mind.

Yang wasn't usually one to hesitate. But she didn't want to say it aloud unless she thought Weiss knew. She just looked down at her teammate, waiting for Weiss to assert herself instead.

Weiss eventually forced herself to look up at Yang to say it. "I… overheard."

Yang thought carefully on how to reply. "And?"

"And… I have so many different thoughts on the matter, but," Weiss was just as careful. "I guess my first question is: what happens now?"

It was Yang's turn to avert her gaze. "I… don't know."

Silence hung in the air between them, until Weiss's eyes shifted downwards. Yang followed Weiss's eyes to look at her left hand, shaking violently. Yang reached over with her right to hold her wrist, trying to calm herself, to let the feeling pass.

The shaking didn't subside. The memories were much too vivid now, the past playing out in front of her all over again.


	6. Proxies

**Chapter Six: Proxies**

* * *

Kali hadn't moved since Yang left, still leaning up against the wall of the bathroom. She was actually feeling a bit cold since her blonde paramour stepped out, the towel still lying uselessly on the floor. It was hard for her to even reach down and cover herself again, she was so lost in thought.

Kali had wondered if Yang was interested in her daughter, and before she'd had a chance to properly ask Yang had made a move on _her_ instead. Perhaps it was because Kali had been married to the chieftain so long she hadn't recognized the motions. Maybe it was because Yang herself wasn't entirely sure how she felt, to the point she abandoned her plans before she could push things too far.

Or maybe she'd already reached that point. Certainly for a brief moment Kali had given in, allowing Yang's strength and passion to guide her. But when Yang held her tightly, Kali wasn't sure it was _her_ Yang was thinking of.

Which was the worse thought? That the poor girl wanted her or wanted someone who _looked_ like her? What was she to do if Yang was attracted to her? Would this just happen again if enough time passed? And if it did happen again, would Yang push further?

The look in her eyes had been a base wish. Kali suspected Yang hadn't fully known how things would go and just acted on impulse before she managed to regain some clarity. But had she stopped because she felt guilty for Kali's loss or because she hadn't actually wanted Kali?

Kali knew Yang was hurting –more than the other girls she'd just met- and had made an effort to help the poor girl with a few small acts of kindness. When Yang abruptly buried her pain to help Kali with the loss of her husband, Kali had thought her simply returning the favor. She wasn't _entirely_ sure of the details, but it seemed like Yang had played the part before, and from what she could recall of Sun's stories, he'd mentioned how Yang was very protective of her teammates, every bit as much as she was protective of her little sister Ruby.

Kali had no sisters, but she imagined Yang's experience had a few similar notes to her own and the need to play a specific role for the sake of a child. And Yang had to do it far too early in life… Kali would've enjoyed taking a moment to share some of her maternal knowledge with Yang, and maybe give the poor girl a chance to _not_ be that positive influence for a little while, and have a chance to act her age and be someone else's child. Seeing the four girls embrace at Haven, Kali did wonder if perhaps she'd be adding a few daughters to her family.

But now… well, now her thoughts on Yang were much more complicated. And she wasn't sure how to proceed. She wasn't even sure how to remove herself from the wall.

She should just ask and know for sure. But if Yang had become interested in _her_ , then she might be offended by Kali's implication. And if Yang was interested in Blake, was Kali supposed to forget the moment they'd just shared and try to push them together? Did she _want_ Yang to chase after her daughter?

A few minutes ago she'd been… okay with the thought, if perhaps not fully invested in supporting them. Now she had no idea what to think.

Eventually Kali managed to pick her towel off the ground and finish drying herself. Now she just had to step back into the house and…

And talk to Yang.

* * *

Weiss hadn't tried to direct Yang anywhere, or to suggest she take over guarding the relic. She just reached over to hold Yang's trembling left hand, even though Yang's gesticulations caused the smaller girl's arm to shake just as violently.

Yang tried to stop, to get the sensation under control. It helped that Weiss was holding onto her, that someone she cared about was reaching out to help in her time of need. At first that was a comforting thought… until Yang recalled how Kali had done something very similar and Yang had exploited that kindness.

She had more self-control than that. When Weiss reached out to embrace her, Yang had managed to be restrained, even when Weiss herself hadn't. Weiss wasn't the one haunting her thoughts, just the hand holding hers' now.

Eventually her trembling _did_ subside, though Weiss certainly seemed rattled. She might've seen Yang's shakes before, but had grace enough not to bring them up. That wouldn't be the case any longer: "Yang… if you can, will you tell me what's going on?"

Yang knew what led her here, if nothing else. She thought on how to phrase it. "Do you remember a few days ago, when we sat here and talked?"

Weiss nodded, gently leading Yang over to sit back on her bed, just as they had before. Weiss had offered Yang her reassurance, and referred to Yang as family. It had been just the support Yang needed when anger and despair threatened to overwhelm her. In a brief moment of weakness, Yang had admitted what really troubled her, deep in the pit of her soul.

But she hadn't managed to say everything before she broke down.

"When we were talking about Blake…" Yang began, pausing before she let it out… and holding her thought far longer than she meant to.

Was it her secret to reveal? Did Weiss have any idea about what happened between her teammates?

Yang didn't let that trouble her further. There was no good reason to keep it a secret from someone she loved and trusted.

"I said that I needed her and… that was a lot more true than I was willing to admit," Yang explained. "We… kind of had a thing together. After the Breach."

It was Weiss's turn to pause, relaxing the grip of her fingers. All she could manage in reply was a soft: " _Oh_."

Yang tried not to let herself be embarrassed. If she were talking about hooking up with _anyone else_ it'd probably be easier than admitting to all this. "And it, uh, didn't actually go all that well. I tried to play it off and be cool about everything, to focus on the tournament and everything that happened after that, but-"

After that, Blake had hesitated in offering her reassurance when Yang most needed her understanding. And then when Blake was in danger and Yang rushed headlong into save her…

"When I saw what Adam was doing, I thought, I don't know, maybe I could… save her. Not just save her life, but save her from doubt, save her from fear," Yang explained. "I wanted to save her. I wanted to be _seen_ saving her. And I couldn't."

Her hand was shaking again. Weiss clamped down with her fingers, squeezing it tighter, enduring the terrible tremors right alongside Yang. It helped.

"She was holding my hand –like you're doing now- and I thought, even if I failed, things were okay," Yang explained. "She was with me on the trip back to Vale. I kept hearing her say she was sorry, and then… I'm not sure when, sometime after I passed out from the pain… she was gone. I was trying to hold a hand that wasn't there and I just… started shaking."

Yang finally felt the trembling subside. She hoped it'd be a bit less frequent.

"Now that I finally see her again, I'm trying – _really trying_ \- to understand all that she's been through," Yang continued. "And now's not the time to burden her with my problems, but they didn't just go away when we all sat down and hugged each other. And here, stuck in this house with Kali, I… I guess my problems just rose to the surface."

"Well, why didn't you just talk to her about it?" Weiss wondered. "Why did you… move ahead?"

"And tell her what?" Yang asked. "That I'm hung up on her daughter and don't know what to do about it? How do I tell someone that right after they've lost their husband and their daughter is the only reason they're in some foreign country instead of at home?"

"How do you _kiss_ a woman right after she lost her husband?" Weiss countered. "How is _that_ easier than talking to her?"

Yang had felt at ease talking to Kali, when they stood in the kitchen waiting for tea to boil. Yang may have skirted around certain memories, but she liked sharing tales of RWBY's school days at Beacon and enjoyed reminiscing on better times. For a few fleeting moments, Yang hadn't been compelled to pursue her.

But Kali's husband was still alive then…

"I don't know what I feel," Yang admitted. "But when I look at her, when I'm close to her it just… comes over me. I couldn't… no, I mean, I could… I just didn't want to stop. I didn't want to think about it, I just wanted…"

She had no idea how to explain it. So she stopped talking.

"Is it _her_ you want, Yang?" Weiss finally asked.

Silence hung in the room, Yang looking at the floor. Weiss deserved to know, just as Kali and Blake deserved to know.

If only Yang could answer that question.

* * *

"We're making progress," Nora reported, striking away another chunk of debris with her hammer, even as the ceiling of the throne room groaned dangerously over their heads. "Might be able to make a small opening if we do this right."

"But we'll have to pass through one at a time," Ren cautioned. "And if any of Adam's reinforcements are waiting outside we'll be left very vulnerable."

Blake turned her attention back to the walls and columns, calling out to Ilia. "Have you had any luck finding another way out?"

"No," Ilia reluctantly admitted. "I'm sure there's something to be found, but so far…"

"Keep trying," Blake quickly instructed, turning her attention back to Nora's efforts to clear away the debris from the doorframe. "How long will you need?"

Nora scraped away the rock with the edge of Magnhild, Ren and Jaune moving the errant stones around to help support the archway in different locations. "Couple minutes? It's gonna need to be wide for Sun and Jaune to get through."

"How long until you can see through to the other side?" Blake inquired.

"Give me a sec," Nora requested. "I'll let you know."

Blake nodded before turning her attention to Ruby, who'd clued in to the plan percolating in Blake's head. "What are you planning?"

"That when the gap is wide enough I should be able to jump through it by leaving my shadow behind in here," Blake explained. "And then I get as close to the kingdom walls as I can and get a message to Oscar and your uncle."

"Are you sure Adam headed out already?" Ruby asked. "What if it's a trick?"

"If it is, I'm sure I can get close enough to send a message," Blake assured her. "I… I don't think he's trying to toy with me, I think he's completely serious about what he said. I know his tactics, and I know he can misdirect but _he doesn't bluff_. I have to warn the others before he gets to my mom."

"And Weiss and Yang too," Ruby added, clearly worried.

She had reason to be afraid. It was still difficult for Blake to look at that yellow and black prosthetic grafted onto Yang; that facsimile of the arm she'd lost trying to save Blake from Adam's wrath once already. Ruby probably knew it even better, and feared for her sister all the more, to say nothing of Weiss.

She was probably eager to help. "Once I'm through you guys keep digging," Blake insisted. "Ruby, you should be able to squeeze through right after me. _If_ Adam is waiting out there, I'll let him chase me. You just keep running until you can call the others and warn them."

"You got it," Ruby agreed.

Blake turned her attention to the slow work on the door when Sun moved over to her from one of the columns. "What about the rest of us? You really think that psycho's going to just wait for us to catch up if you go chasing him? You warned me not to go after him before because he wanted to pick us off one at a time."

"And I'm sure that's why he told me all this," Blake agreed. "But he also told me he wants Ilia, so you –and Jaune, and Ren and Nora- are going to stay with her and keep her safe. If I know nothing else… it's that whatever he's up to, he _won't_ kill me. He'll want me alive when this is done, so if he _is_ out there waiting for me, then at least I can draw his attention away from the rest of you."

Sun clearly wanted to argue further. It wasn't the first time Blake had sidelined him from a fight with Adam- a fight he very much wanted to find himself in.

But he didn't know Adam like she did. And if nothing else, Sun was willing to listen to Blake on that subject in particular. He set his animosity aside and moved back to join Ilia in searching for another exit, watching her back at Blake's behest.

Ruby crouched down and pulled out Crescent Rose, looking through her sniper scope as Nora widened the hole. "Looking good so far, but it's pretty dark in there."

"That's exactly what I'm hoping for," Blake assured her, waiting for the gap to grow just a little wider…

Nora etched the hole barely two feet across. Blake would have a hard time poking her head through. But she could see the other side.

Blake dashed forward and focused her Aura, willing her Semblance to act. The distance she could be from her shadow clone would only be a few inches, but so long as there wasn't rock in her way…

She pushed herself ahead, leaving her shadow behind with her friends and pushing herself through the gap. She was cut by sharp stone edges on multiple sides, but her Aura took the hit for her, absorbing the impact as she wiggled her way out of the throne room into the hall.

She didn't have time to wait and recuperate beyond letting her Aura repair the little scratches. Blake took one last fleeting glance at her friends before rushing ahead, half-expecting Adam to be just outside waiting for her.

When she emerged from the structure Blake found no one waiting; not Adam or whatever zealots he'd recruited to plant his bombs. Just forest and mountains between her and the Mistralian capitol.

Blake pulled out her Scroll and called Ruby. "I'm through. I'm following the most direct route back, so once you're out you should catch up in a hurry. Stay safe."

Blake ended the call before Ruby finished wishing her the same. She stared down at the surface of her Scroll as she moved ahead, trying to find a signal that she could reach, going through her list of contacts and trying them.

Mom- nothing.

Qrow- nothing.

Weiss- nothing.

Yang…

For some reason she couldn't press the button to call her partner. Blake held her finger precariously over the surface of the screen, even as she dashed headlong into the trees. She tried to rationalize that the signal wouldn't reach Yang anyway, given she hadn't managed to get in touch with any of the others.

That was an excuse. She _knew_ it was an excuse. She kept telling it to herself anyway.

* * *

Kali took a long time to get changed. She told herself it was because grief had finally reached her, as she tried to adjust to doing ordinary, everyday things knowing her husband wouldn't be on-hand. She'd gone through a similar adjustment when Blake left home: it took her several weeks before she stopped setting out a third place setting or stopping by her room in the course of her day to see what her girl had been up to. The house had seemed so very empty then… as it would again, worse than ever before.

She tried not to dwell on that thought. She'd have enough problems to face in the more immediate future, because she was still sharing a house with Yang and they'd just shared a _very_ heated moment. Being alone started to sound preferable to trying to discuss that or even to be around the girl with the events of a few minutes past hanging over their heads.

Though Kali wasn't sure whether _she_ was the one Yang wanted, she _had_ encountered this sort of attention before. It had just been a very long time since anyone besides Ghira had held her… and because of how strong Yang's embrace was, Kali had been all too willing to remain within it. For a brief moment she was able to forget the pain of her loss and gladly accept what stood before her.

It'd be easy for her to just leave it at that: she and Yang were searching for something and used each other as proxies for that. It was a strange, manic, impulsive moment that wouldn't have occurred elsewhere, and they didn't need to dwell on it or let it taint their perception. They could…

Kali wasn't sure how to describe it, but they _had_ formed a bond. And while Kali hadn't yet had the chance to get to know Yang very well, she _wanted_ to know more. She wanted to know about her friendship –or more- with Blake, about Team RWBY, about her journey, about whatever it was that led her to where she was… about the reason she had that look in her eye.

And these other strange, errant thoughts she had… the emotions would pass and the rational part of her mind would take over once she'd fully come to terms with her grief. She was simply feeling vulnerable and eager not to be alone, not to lie in a cold bed or go without a strong arm to hold her up.

But this feeling wasn't sustainable and she shouldn't indulge it. And if she wanted to try and help Yang with whatever she was going through, whatever she needed to process, it wouldn't help her if Kali opted to let Yang…

She tried not to picture it, but the image was so recent and still so vivid. Nor was she trying all that hard to forget.

She had to be strong and focus, and do what was best for Yang. If Yang was attracted to her, Kali could diplomatically discourage her, politely turn her attentions elsewhere. It'd hurt less than leading her on and inevitably ending things when Kali wasn't in such a bad place and not so willing to accept Yang just because she was strong and passionate.

All she had to do now was _tell_ her that…

Kali wasn't sure she'd believe the words leaving her lips. But she had to say _something_. She couldn't just leave this hanging between them, the memory haunting their every step. There was nothing so loud as silence… so Kali had learned in the past day.

Kali finally managed to step out from her room and walk over to Yang's. She refused to let herself hesitate when she tapped her hand on the door. When Weiss answered it, the Atlesian girl very graciously offered to extend her shift guarding the relic and headed for Oscar's room.

Kali wasn't sure if she should sit down beside Yang. In all previous interactions Kali had been quick to get close –not even stopping to ask before she started fixing Yang's hair- and now it felt strange keeping distance between them. Yang continued to sit on her bed, finally having to be the one to look _up_ at Kali… and pretty clearly restraining herself from acting, because somewhere in those lavender eyes Kali saw the same primal look that had so compelled Kali to let her continue.

Kali closed her eyes and counted for several seconds, before finally asking: "Yang… is it me that you wanted?"

Yang fixed her gaze on Kali, determinedly looking up at her. "I had something with Blake before. I don't know how much you know, or what anyone told you before now, but… it affected me, I guess. When I look at you, sometimes I see her features clearly, and… and I'm sorry, I know it's not fair to think of someone else, but I do and I should be honest about that. When I kissed you before, that was where my mind was: I was thinking of her."

Kali nodded to herself. She'd known it was possible, but she felt… upset? Disappointed?

She shook her head. It wouldn't help them. She told herself again and again that no matter how appealing the moment was it'd hurt far more than it helped. "What happened between you two?"

Yang recounted the events of the Breach once again, but this time included a night a few days afterwards, when Blake climbed up into Yang's bunk, and how the two quietly indulged while their teammates were away and shared a beautiful evening together, only for day to arrive and the stray cat to sneak away. Yang tried to accept that Blake made a mistake and did her best not to let it hang over her head… but it did, and it had.

Yang went into great detail about how she felt when Blake fled from Vale, waking alone in an Atlas field hospital missing her arm and no longer holding her partner's hand. At the mention of the latter, Yang's left hand noticeably started to shake, though only very briefly. Yang went on to mention spending several months at her father's home, unable to respond even to her sister –and the deep regret she'd felt at being unable to do so- less because she'd lost her arm than because she'd lost _Blake_.

Love like that was all too rare. But it had worn on Yang, and the emotion had turned from being something positive to something painful. Something _dark_.

If Kali answered to it, if she fed this feeling deep within Yang… as some part of her truly wished to…

Yang was interrupted by a knock at the door. Yang quickly cautioned Kali to stay in the room as she went to answer it, breaking stride only long enough to place her gauntlet on her left wrist.

When Yang opened front door, Kali had stopped only to peek out from the bedroom, one black ear poking through the doorframe. When Yang exposed the front of the house to the cool Mistral air, they both saw who'd found his way to their doorstep.

Yang was no longer standing in the front room of the house Qrow rented. She wasn't even sure there was floor beneath her feet… just darkness beneath her and at her back, and the fiery red hair and white mask before her. Her left hand started shaking as she tried to reach for Blake's hand to hold.

"Still here?" Adam asked, hoisting up his sword.

In her dreams he didn't speak to her. At Beacon he'd never uttered a word to her… she'd only faintly heard his voice when he spoke to Blake. Even when he'd stopped to taunt her after he'd killed Ghira Yang had been transported back to the past at Beacon, rather than the more recent brutality Adam inflicted.

He stepped right past her, roughly shoving her aside. Yang didn't even try to maintain her balance, simply falling to the wooden floor as Adam stepped past her inside.

"I saw your daughter today," Adam called as he stepped inside. "You'll be glad to know she wouldn't surrender her friend's life… unfortunately, she decided to give me yours' instead."

Kali stepped out from the bedroom, doing her best to stand tall and not be –visibly- frightened. "I doubt you gave her much choice."

"She made her choice long ago," Adam sneered. "It didn't have to be like this. There was so much that we could've accomplished if she was strong enough to see it."

"Strong like you?" Kali inquired. "Willing to sacrifice every comrade you fought alongside just to kill innocent people? Willing to betray those who took you in without any remorse?"

"Willing to do what is necessary," Adam argued. "And make no mistake: I _am_ grateful for what you did for me, and for the Faunus. I wish that you didn't have to die…" He leveled his sword at Kali's throat. "…I just know better."

Kali tried to look past him, to Yang on the ground, before refocusing her attention on Adam. She couldn't show weakness now. He could kill her at any moment… and she wouldn't let him have any satisfaction in performing the act.

Yang saw that darkness again and again, and Adam standing over Blake, a fresh wound in her stomach… and how no matter how Blake begged her not to go, every time she charged at him and swung her right arm and…

Adam was standing with his sword already drawn, leveled to Kali's throat. Kali, who looked so much like Blake…

No. Kali was _not_ Blake. This house was _not_ Beacon. And her right arm…

Her left hand was still shaking. But her right was strong enough to push her up from the ground. Yang fixed her gaze on Adam, still delighting in what lay ahead, indulging in his cruelty and not guarding his back.

She'd faltered before, time and again. No longer.

Yang unsheathed Ember Celica on her left wrist. Her hand may have been shaking, but she could still fire the pellet rounds and push herself forward.

Yang careened through the air. Adam drew back his sword… Yang reached out with her right hand…

Her metal fingers clashed against his red blade as she intercepted his sword, keeping it from reaching Kali as she forced herself between them. She looked ahead at that expressionless Grimm mask, trying to look braver than she felt.

"Eager to die?" Adam calmly asked her. "How many times have I spared your life, human?"

Yang wasn't sure how best to reply. She went with the obvious. "One time too many."

"Clearly," Adam agreed, pulling his sword back. Yang raised her fists and stood protectively before Kali. "Rest assured… today's the day I rectify my mistake."

Adam moved in to attack again, Wilt clashing against Yang's right hand once more. Yang held against his sword with her metal wrist, gritting her teeth as the sword started to cut into her prosthetic arm.

She wanted to save her. She wanted to be _seen_ saving her.

Yang pushed against Adam's sword and finally decided to fight her nightmare off. Her right arm held strong against his blade, even as he slowly dug deeper into the metal. Her left?

Steady.

Yang reared back with her left and fired another burst of pellets into Adam's face. The White Fang's high leader cried out in surprise as he retreated, reaching up his free hand to his mask, fresh rounds embedded in the white plaster.

Yang wasn't sure –even after training under her father and with her team- that she could best him. She was fairly certain this was a battle she'd lose.

But protect some she cared about? Fight against something she feared? That was something she could do every day.

And today… well, today she'd already faced one fear. Now she'd see just how much more she could do with a sense of purpose and two good hands.


	7. Burning

**Chapter Seven: Burning**

* * *

 _Patch, After the Fall of Beacon_

Not every dream that haunted Yang was the Fall of Beacon or Adam maiming her. Every now and then she'd recall other things that terrified her or moments where she'd personally faltered: when she was knocked unconscious after her battle with Neo on the train, when she'd led Ruby into the woods and been unable to defend her from Grimm, when she became aware Summer Rose wouldn't be coming home for the first time…

Sometimes she raced through every individual failure in a jumbled, incoherent mess. Sometimes she woke just feeling dread or tension without recalling exactly what the dream entailed. She honestly preferred waking up without knowing _which_ nightmare had found her, because the alternative was for her to fill in the blanks with her own memories.

Yang didn't dread some uncertain future, she didn't dream of dark woods and monsters going bump in the night. She was tormented by memory -by the pain of loss and the errors of youth- rather than by what lay ahead. Maybe that was why she woke so often with her heart pounding and pain in a limb she no longer had: she wasn't thinking about the future at all, and the past was too vivid.

When she woke Yang would go through a variety of different exercises, from simply waiting for her heart and breathing to steady to getting up and walking through the halls, passing by Ruby's empty room to poking her head into her Dad's, to even stepping outside into cold night air to remind herself she was still in the present and not trapped by the memories refusing to leave her.

On this night she'd stepped outside and wandered away from the cabin. Part of her mind tried to warn her not to wander out on a cold winter night in the mood she was in; even Patch wasn't completely safe from the Grimm and they'd be drawn to the emotions she was feeling now.

But she couldn't sleep, and so decided to take a moment to process her thoughts. And if she could, find someone who'd always helped with her problems and let her vent without interruption.

Yang found her at the cliffside as always, and sat down in the cold dirt before her. The wind passed in a low howl, but Yang couldn't help but take a moment to listen for her voice just the same. No matter how many times she sat before the marker, Yang read its inscription every time: _Thus kindly, I scatter._

For several moments she was quiet, just staring ahead as though waiting for Summer to address her. Part of her just needed to stare at the stone and focus her attention on something real and tangible, not the formless mass of memory… but even that heavy headstone couldn't pull her back from the recollection, her dream finally returning to her… of Blake's hand leaving her grip, of her partner disappearing and leaving her with her phantom pain and her fear and her doubt… all welling up again, striking her harder than any of the cold winds on the island.

"Do you know what it means to love someone so much it hurts?" Yang inquired. "I mean, you must've, from what Dad and Qrow told me. You must've really cared about all your teammates, even when they were driving you crazy and you were at each others' throats. They mentioned how you just sort of fell into it, how you just loved all of them and that never really left you, even when you were annoyed or frustrated… like you were just, always able to remind yourself that you loved them. I know I asked you a few times about Dad, but I did wonder –now that I've had some time, now that I've been there- what it was like falling in love with your teammate.

"Because I fell in love with my partner," Yang admitted. "I fell in love and I never expected to… and now I wish I hadn't. I wish I didn't feel the way I feel, because it _hurts_. Every time I think of her I think about how she left me. Every time I think of the way things ended, I just want to ask her _why_."

Yang felt the pain welling in her arm again. Her left hand was trembling in the cold, but she brought it up to grasp her right shoulder, fingers that were normally burning hot like shards of ice pressing to her skin. "I thought things were getting better for us. I knew she had a past, I knew she was dealing with some stuff- but she was moving on and she was coming out of her shell. And I… I knew she was pretty before, but I never realized how beautiful she was until I saw her let go, if even just for a moment. I don't know exactly when it happened –maybe at the dance, maybe at Mountain Glenn- but somewhere in there I knew how I felt. I knew what it meant."

Yang wanted to say the feeling was mutual. She wanted to tell her mother that the girl Yang fell in love with loved her back. But she no longer had any reason to lie to Summer Rose, even if she did occasionally think the gray marker might judge her.

"I thought maybe we'd get to where we needed to be, just if she had some more time," Yang went on. "But then she came and found me and I thought… I honestly thought it was incredible, and special, and I couldn't believe it was all happening like that. But the next morning she just… I don't know, felt guilty, or wrong. I played it off, told her things would be cool, and I… I never thought I'd be disappointed when she agreed with me. I really thought she'd put up more of a fight than that.

"And I tried to just accept that what I felt for her wasn't what she felt for me," Yang elaborated. "And that it was okay, that things would eventually work out between us, even if we didn't end up together or whatever you want to call it. But honestly, we just got more and more distant, slowly but surely… and when I felt like I really needed her most, she wavered; she didn't believe me when I thought she would. She wasn't there for me like I expected her to be."

 **I want to believe you.**

It seemed her attempt to take her mind off the past had been for naught, because now it was all coming into focus, one bad memory after another. Yang tried to focus on the present or reach out and snatch the good memories along with the bad, but it was hard to take a firm hold when she kept trying to use a hand she no longer had.

 **No… please…**

Yang tried to focus on her mother. Talking to her always made her feel better. "But when things got bad at Beacon I still went to find her. It didn't matter how I was feeling; she was in danger and I was going to save her. It didn't matter if she didn't love me back because I loved _her_ and I wanted to save her."

The pain in her arm was worse now, and the cold didn't help. It had been cold that night at Beacon too, even though she could still hear fires crackling in the ruined buildings and see smoke rising over the campus.

"And I… I didn't care that I failed, I didn't care that some psychopath hurt me, because she was alive and she was safe," Yang continued. "I may not have stopped the bad guy, but I saved my partner and I protected someone I loved. That was all I had to do. And I was okay with it, until…"

 **I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…**

Yang finally released her grip on her shoulder and looked down at her left hand. She didn't think the trembling happening now had anything to do with the cold over Patch. That wasn't what she was feeling anymore.

"…until she ran. That hurt so much more than losing my hand," Yang explained. "She ran and she left me, just like everyone else. Just like Raven…" her eyes burnt red as the emotions surged through her, "…and just like you."

For a long time she just glared at the marker. The dead gave her no answer.

Then Yang closed her eyes. When she opened them again her eyes were lilac once more, the hatred passing like the howling wind. "I'm sorry. I know you didn't plan for this, I know you weren't _expecting_ things to end when they did. I just… it hurts so much, and I wish it didn't. I wish I didn't love her, and I hate that I wish for that. I hate feeling like I _don't want to love someone_. I hate that I feel that way, like loving her was a mistake, like I can't think about her without this pain just hitting me. I can't even sleep because every night I have to stop and think about her."

Yang waited. She'd heard her mother's words soothe her so many times, she hoped that if even for a moment, even if only in memory, she could hear them again and know that whatever she felt would pass and things would get better.

"I wish I had something better to tell you," Yang mused. "I wish I didn't always come here just to vent. But I don't know how to talk about this with anyone else. I think you're the only one who ever really knew me well enough to get this and the one who could always make me feel better when I needed it."

Yang leaned closer, resting her left hand on the surface of the grave. She'd barely touched the cold stone before she felt tears welling up, as any hope she'd had of recalling her mother's touch vanished.

"I miss you so much," Yang tearfully reminded Summer. "I _love_ you so much. It hurts to think that… that I'm trying to treat a rock and a patch of dirt like it's family, but even that… even _that_ doesn't hurt like loving Blake. I wish that it wouldn't. I wish things were different. I just wish I could love someone and not have it hurt."

She remained pressed to the headstone for several minutes before climbing up and heading back to the cabin, in case her father would worry. She wiped the tears as best she could with one hand before heading inside.

* * *

 _Mistral, Today_

Weiss had been determinedly trying not to eavesdrop on Yang or Kali, but staring out the hole in the wall had become tedious hours beforehand. Now, knowing her teammate and her _other_ teammate's mother were talking about their… _encounter_ twenty feet away made it increasingly difficult to try and focus on guarding the house's vulnerable point. But she was putting on a brave effort, if nothing else, because curious as she may have been, it really wasn't something she needed to know. It was probably hard enough on Yang and Mrs. Belladonna without her knowledge, and she didn't want to complicate things any further.

Especially considering what Yang told her about Blake… and how differently Weiss recalled the conversation now, with the benefit of this new perspective. Try as she might, she couldn't quite manage to _not_ think about what might've been discussed while she pretended to guard the house and the relic.

She wasn't doing a very good job at paying attention either… that became resoundingly clear when she heard the sound of Yang's Ember Celica activate, and Weiss desperately hoped Yang hadn't gotten angry. She raced for the door almost as soon as she heard it, but paused when she saw Kali's back and heard the clashing of steel just past the Faunus woman.

"How many times have I spared your life, human?"

Weiss didn't know the voice. But she knew the tone. She knew the intent.

Fortunately, Yang was quicker to respond. "One time too many."

Weiss heard clashing again and quickly moved to pull Kali back from it. Yang's gauntlets discharged again as a concussion burst struck something nearby and tangible enough to feel the impact. "What's going on?" Weiss asked when there was calm enough to get a word in.

"Adam," Kali frantically replied. "You have to help her!"

That _was_ Weiss's first instinct, but before she could jump into the fray, she took a moment to think. The relic was still nearby, in Ren and Nora's room away from the hole Adam put in the wall during his last visit. Weiss didn't want to leave Yang alone with that madman, but if he'd come back for the Relic of Knowledge…

He'd attacked through the front door rather than the hole in the wall. This could easily be a distraction, for Salem or the White Fang or whoever else was involved in this madness. The relic was where Weiss's attention needed to be.

That didn't mean she couldn't render aid, at least in part. Weiss rushed back to acquire Myrtenaster before leveling it at Adam Taurus as he and Yang brawled through the front room, the former heiress spinning the Dust cylinders to fire on the madman from range.

Yang was already on the defensive, as Adam's sword closed the distance much faster than her fists could. But when Yang was pushed back for a moment, Weiss exploited the opening by firing rounds of Air Dust at Adam, launching him back out the front door he'd come in. Yang turned her attention to Weiss… and then looked right past her at Kali, pulled out of the fighting but not yet safe from the man who'd come to kill her.

"Keep her safe," Yang fiercely instructed before stepping out to pursue Adam. She didn't seem at all deterred from coming out the worse of their battle so far.

Weiss knew she needed to prioritize the relic, even if she _wanted_ to help. She didn't want to leave Yang alone fighting this battle. Not when she recalled what happened the last time.

But she did as Yang bid, taking Kali by the hand and leading her to the other side of the house. Kali's eyes met Yang's for the briefest moment before Yang dashed outside, the sound of metal clashing again.

Kali had not been idle. Her hand found her Scroll and she tried to recall the number of the Mistralian police. She'd been in their good graces ever since she led them to the capture of several high-ranking White Fang members, a victory tainted only by the escape of Adam Taurus.

Maybe if she couldn't help Yang in the fight, she could at least help the net close around Adam.

* * *

Blake was exhausting herself trying to chase after him, and she knew it. But given how quickly Adam moved and how easy his trail was to follow, he must've used up a lot of energy too. If he was going to go all the way back inside the kingdom and if he maintained this pace, Adam wouldn't be in top form. Hopefully with Yang and Weiss rested…

No, she couldn't allow herself to be too optimistic. Whatever Adam had gained from the relic made him strong enough to defeat her father. And before that he'd far surpassed Blake's combat skill, and had effortlessly defeated Yang in their last encounter. He might not need his full strength, even against both of them.

Blake kept trying to reach them with her Scroll as the signal got stronger. At least this time when she tried to call Weiss the Scroll rang before the call was dropped. When she tried to reach her mother, Blake became frustrated by what appeared to be a busy signal.

Just a little closer. Maybe Qrow and Oscar would be in range… but if not, then she'd risk Adam's wrath firsthand. She'd be the one to take the hit this time, and no matter how that bolstered Adam's inflated sense of self-importance, Blake would gladly give him a small victory if it meant denying him the win he needed to reclaim control of the White Fang... and whatever she had to do to save her mother.

* * *

The opening was just barely wide enough. Only three of them could safely fit through, but only _one_ could hope to catch up to Blake when she made it to the other side.

Ruby got to a running start, carefully angling her motion as she pushed through. Nora and Jaune struggled to hold the entrance for her as she sailed past the debris, her hood adding a few new tatters as she cut it along jagged stones. When she landed out in the hall, Ruby didn't even call back in gratitude: she just kept running for the door and out into the woods after Blake.

She'd manage the distance easily enough, though she'd burn through _a lot_ of Aura running full-tilt all the way back. Ruby pulled out her Scroll and typed as best she could, trying to remember the buttons on the interface because she couldn't see the surface of the screen very well with air rushing past her. She hoped Blake got the gist of it, that Ruby was on the way to help too.

She wasn't sure how far ahead of them Adam was, but she wouldn't let him stay ahead much longer. Ruby had been too late to save one friend already, and the memory still kept her up at night. She wouldn't allow anyone else to be taken from her.

Ruby clenched her teeth and kept her head down as she dashed through dense forests, knowing that she had a ways to go to get back into the kingdom. Every breath she took to maintain her rapid pace was another moment Adam Taurus could've been hurting Weiss or…

Yang.

Of all the people who could've faced Adam, even before he'd gained power from the Relic of Knowledge…

Ruby had seen her sister's terrible pain when they were in Patch after the Fall of Beacon. More than the initial shock of seeing Yang's maiming, Ruby hated the recollection of Yang being so broken and distant that she was unable to return her little sister's sincere declaration of love. The thought of Yang facing the very same monster who'd already hurt her once before…

Ruby focused on the task: stop the bad guy, protect her friends and the relic. She wasn't going to let herself be bogged down by worry or doubt. She wasn't going to let anything slow her down now.

* * *

Yang was doing most of the work for him, and Adam relished it. Though he'd taken two bad hits from her and the Schnee heiress –and he couldn't afford to take too many hits, given how much Aura he'd already used to get there- Adam had quickly regained control of the battle once they stepped outside, absorbing the impacts of Yang's gauntlet on the surface of Wilt. Each blow increased the energy coating the surface of the blade, and while Adam was expending energy by playing defense and allowing the girl to _think_ she was pushing him back, the more she attacked the closer she drew to her defeat.

He was able to recollect their previous battle with perfect clarity. Now he was getting a better understanding for her technique by observing it, though she was much harder to predict than Sun Wukong had been. Her attacks were frenzied and uncoordinated, a wild brawling without a clear pattern. Adam thought perhaps she was driven by emotion, and while that made her sloppy and unfocused it also made her unpredictable.

Adam could relate to that. He'd been quite frustrated by the setbacks he'd suffered, and the more this girl fought the more tempted he became to simply kill her. But when he was able to focus his attention and set his rage aside, he couldn't help but notice the litany of scents on the girl… including of Kali Belladonna. They were close enough to have embraced one another, based on the way the smell wafted across Yang. Killing her would hurt Kali, and though he knew he shouldn't indulge the instinct, Adam would very much like Kali to see it when he _did_ finally kill this poor human girl trying to protect her.

Just like she tried to protect Blake before. A friend of the family, perhaps?

No, the way she fought now… the way she'd rushed into battle and intercepted Adam's sword… there was more to it. She'd been terrified, even paralyzed when she saw him at the front door and when she watched him kill Ghira. Why had the sight of him threatening Kali been so different from threatening her husband?

She'd been so enraged to see him hurt Blake too…

Adam felt it rising within him again, an anger burning like a massive fire. He hadn't detected it then at Beacon, but recalling it now, Adam suspected that Yang had been so desperate to save Blake from him not out of friendship or partnership but something… _deeper._ And the thought made Adam think he'd quite like to torture the girl for stepping out of her place.

He knew it was a risk, and not something he had time for. But if he was correct and this girl –this _human_ girl- had dared to touch what was his, then…

Adam felt his hand shake as he gripped the hilt of his sword. Yang's eyes moved to follow the sight, before she dove out of his path. Adam swung and fired off a burst of air pressure that narrowly avoided cutting Yang in two.

How fortunate for her. That cowardice had saved her more than once.

Not again.

Adam moved to attack Yang's flank. She rolled along the ground and fired off another burst from her gauntlet, pushing herself out of the path of his attack. Adam's sword struck the dirt and Yang fire from her right arm, pushing herself back and elbowing the side of the Faunus's head.

Adam snarled and reached out with his free hand, grabbing onto Yang's long mane of hair before getting a better grip on the back of her head. He swung Yang around and slammed her face first into the ground, watching her Aura visibly flicker shortly after impact. Adam didn't waste the opportunity to inflict more harm, driving his blade into her side, causing the blonde girl to cry out.

Adam left her pinned by his sword in the small patch of her exposed flesh, pulling her up by her hair again and meeting her lilac eye. She glared at him, refusing to fear the man now holding her life in his hand.

"Kali!" Adam called into towards the house. "Come out and watch your protector die for you!"

She didn't reply. He didn't expect her to. But she could hear him… those ears of hers wouldn't miss his offer, and whether she cared for the girl or not Kali would _know_ she stood by and did nothing while the human died on her behalf.

Adam ripped his sword from Yang's side, causing her to cry out a second time. He hoisted the bloodied Wilt towards her throat, waiting for her defiance to break and the fear to reemerge. He wanted her to reflect on her failure and know she died for someone who would _not_ come to save her.

Until a shot rang out and Adam instinctively raised his blade to defend himself, deflecting the bullet. Adam's eyes scoured around, looking for the source of…

He saw her outlined by the setting sun. He heard her panting breaths as she leveled Gambol Shroud at him, lining up another attack.

More than he ever hoped for. He wouldn't kill Yang in front of Kali… but killing her in front of _Blake_ would be even better.

* * *

Kali heard Adam's boast. She heard Yang cry out in pain. She knew that while he might take time to play with his meal, Adam would not hesitate for too long and would keep his promise. She turned her attention to Weiss, firmly grasping the Schnee girl's shoulder. "Please. You can't just leave her out there with him."

"You think I _want_ to?" Weiss asked. "She told me to protect you, and I will. She knows what she's-"

"He'll kill her," Kali interjected.

Weiss must've considered the possibility, because she didn't seem surprised by Kali bringing it up. "He could've killed her at Beacon too. This is what we do, Mrs. Belladonna… we fight people like him."

"Then fight him!" Kali insisted. "I… I won't pretend I can look after myself or I can take care of the relic for you, but please… please don't let him hurt Yang anymore."

Weiss _wanted_ to do just that. But if she abandoned not only the Relic of Knowledge but the surviving leader of Menagerie as well, if Adam managed to get past them as he'd evaded the police and the army of Faunus once already…

Weiss didn't pretend to understand what was happening between Yang and Blake or Yang and Kali. But she did recall how grateful she'd felt to embrace Yang at the bandit camp, and how happy she was when Yang acknowledged she'd missed Weiss just as Weiss missed her…

She looked briefly past Kali to the lamp and its blue contents. Weiss shuddered to think what might happen if it fell into Salem's hands now, or even whatever members of the White Fang still fought alongside Adam…

…and she hoisted Myrtenaster and left it and Kali behind, to join her dear friend in battle.

* * *

Blake was quiet when she moved to attack, much to Adam's disappointment. He was hoping for righteous indignation from her or some anger after her father's demise. It really was underwhelming to hear only haggard breaths when she clashed her sword against him.

And her technique was underwhelming too… so slow and weak. Blake exhausted herself trying to catch up with him, and now she could barely swing her sword. Adam smirked at the sight and knocked Gambol Shroud from her hand with just a small amount of force, before reaching over and hoisting Blake off the ground with his free hand, holding her up at the throat. She squirmed in his grasp, as Adam jerked his head towards Yang lying on the ground.

"I wondered back then if this one was special to you," Adam noted. "How you threw yourself in my path and glared at me, letting instinct take over. Do you remember?"

Blake merely glared at him. She wasn't playing his game any longer, she wasn't indulging his madness.

"And you'll be glad to know that she fought hard for you," Adam added. "It's a shame, really… but I've let her live often enough. Now she dies and you get to watch, knowing she died for you. And then your mother dies… and the Schnee dies and Ilia dies and you either understand what I've been telling you or you watch everyone else die! You belong to me and me alone, Blake… and if I have to reduce this world to nothing but the two of us I will."

Adam turned his attention towards Yang, leveling his sword. Blake tried to struggle out of his grasp, aiming kicks towards Wilt to try and put him off course. Adam merely smirked as he drew nearer, savoring her struggle and knowing she was about to fail yet again, and his ignominious defeat at her hands would be avenged…

Only for another flurry of Dust rounds to strike at his back. Adam instinctively whirled around and spotted the Schnee readying a second volley. Adam snarled as he flung Blake aside and moved to attack, weaving around the Air Dust and clashing his heavy sword against her thin rapier. The Schnee parried him for a few seconds, but she couldn't hope to match his raw power, and he drove her towards the ground. While she was momentarily exposed Adam charged the kinetic energy in his sword to deliver a single blow to sever her pretty white head from her shoulders…

…when another shot struck the flat of his blade and drove him off course, his attack cutting a deep gash in the ground a few inches from the Schnee girl's head. She drew a Glyph in the ground with her free hand and pushed herself rapidly away from Adam, who searched for his assailant, only for two more shots to clue him into her location, each shot disrupting his Aura further. Adam saw her in the distance, clad in a red hood, huffing and puffing like Blake, but unloading on him with her sniper rifle.

It was all unraveling… his carefully planned assassination was in danger of failing.

And he couldn't fail. Not again. He couldn't suffer another defeat, and certainly not one at the hands of these miserable humans. Too much was at stake now for the High Leader of the White Fang to let traitors go on living…

He turned his attention to the house. If he charged the remaining energy in his blade and ran her through, he could use the cover of the building to stymie their ranged attacks and then work his way back to the woods, forcing them to fight him in enclosed spaces at close range.

If he timed it right, things could still…

She stood in his path, clutching her wound with her left hand, leveling only her right to face him. She engulfed her body in Aura, eyes burning over red as she unleashed the power of her Semblance, just as she had at Beacon.

Adam had already fought this battle. The second time would yield the same result.

She turned her left hand back to propel herself forward, pulling up her right arm in a wide arc. Adam would be happy to sever it again. Yang's pain would become Blake's pain, and he'd demoralize them further.

But when he prepared to swing, he noticed something off, as Yang's eyes turned from red to lilac once again. She lowered her arm and tucked her body close when Adam moved to strike. His blade sailed harmlessly past her while Yang herself crashed into Adam with the full weight of her body before leveling her right hand directly in his face once again.

She discharged another concussion burst at point blank, empowering the shot with an uppercut charged with her radiant Aura. Adam felt it strike along his mask, ripping plaster from his face and embedding pellets around his eye and gouging into his skin. Adam fell back with Yang pushing him into the ground with her body weight, eventually rolling over him and staggering back to her feet.

He had to stand, to counterattack while he had some fight left in him.

He couldn't falter now, not when he was…

The Schnee joined Yang, forcing Wilt from Adam's hand with a thrust of her rapier. Blake fired from Gambol Shroud and knocked Blush from his hip, leaving him disarmed.

Adam still had hands to reach and hate to propel him forward. He tried to force himself to stand, to reach over and kill this human, to amend the mistake he'd made in allowing her to live…

When she looked down at him with calm defiance, Adam could only glare through his one good eye. He couldn't even manage to taunt her; his rage didn't allow coherent words to leave his lips.

He couldn't… he couldn't fail…

Above the blonde girl fell massive lights, encircling the scene. Someone called from high over their heads: **"Adam Taurus, you are under arrest."**

He escaped them once before, he just had to get to his feet. He could regroup with what loyalists remained, he could find his way back to…

He felt cuffs clasp his wrists as the girl standing over him stepped aside, Mistralian officers reaching down and hoisting him up. He tried to shove them away with his shoulders, but he couldn't manage the strength.

Adam had become so used to knowing every movement around him the gaps in time were maddening. He didn't know when they landed, or how much of his recollection was spotty from battle… all he knew was he was ensnared and Blake…

Blake…

She stood surrounded by her friends, watching as Adam was carted off towards the police ship. He saw Kali emerge from the house to embrace her daughter before looking his way with her. Adam tried to point to her but couldn't even lift his hand.

She had to die. He had to kill her, he had to regain…

Things were growing darker. He couldn't focus. They were fading from sight…

His hatred would keep him going. The power he gained from the relic would enable him to have his revenge.

He wouldn't… fail…

Not again…

Before finally succumbing to exhaustion, Adam could only look on as Blake paid him no more heed, all her thoughts for those he'd failed to destroy… and all that gave her reason not to fear him any longer.

* * *

Blake wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel watching the Mistral police toss Adam in the back of their ship, bound and disarmed. She supposed she should be grateful it seemed he'd finally been apprehended and his threat ended for good.

But that didn't change what she'd seen him do or what he'd taken from her. It was only a relief in the sense he hadn't caused _more_ damage before this day finally came. She could take some solace in knowing those he'd victimized rallied together to stop him.

And Yang… Yang was the one who stopped him. Blake hoped that she took some solace in that, because right then even knowing Adam was locked away wasn't making Blake feel any better.

But her mother was alive. Yang was alive. _That_ she could be grateful for.

Ruby and Weiss both reached over to hug Yang, helping to support the tired blonde in their arms. Kali gently prodded Blake and jerked her head towards the three girls.

Blake waited for them to make the invitation. She waited for _Yang_ to extend the offer.

Yang looked tired there in Ruby and Weiss's arms. But she did raise her left hand from the jumble and bid Blake to join them.

Blake stepped forward to join her friends and once again was welcomed to the fold. She turned her attention to them, removing her eyes from Adam to join the welcoming embrace of humanity and unlikely friendship, victorious, united, and whole once again.


	8. A Good Idea At the Time

**Chapter Eight: A Good Idea At the Time**

* * *

Oscar and Qrow finally returned the calls left for them and made it back to the house shortly after sunset. The police airships were still in the vicinity, with Kali explaining matters to the officers as Adam Taurus was taken into their custody at last. Though the police were not inclined to let a child and a drunken vagabond enter an active crime scene, once Qrow explained the house belonged to a friend of his the two were eventually able to enter. They made a beeline for the Relic of Knowledge stored in Ren and Nora's room, Ozpin briefly reasserting his control over Oscar to inspect the lamp.

"It seems that Adam Taurus hasn't robbed us of anymore of the relic's power," Ozpin observed. "Very fortunate… it has already begun to ebb."

"What do you mean?" Qrow inquired.

"I mean that no source is infinite, not even a gift from the gods such as this," Ozpin clarified. "I wish there was time to study the effects it had on Adam Taurus… or if could discern some way to reverse the process and refill this lamp's light. But that will have to wait for another day. Once Salem is aware that the boy stole some of the relic's power, she may focus her efforts on recovering him."

"And what, Mistral's finest manage to fend her off?" Qrow asked, raising an eyebrow at the very notion.

Ozpin slowly shook his head. "No, I imagine that it will only destabilize things here even further… but if nothing else it will divert Salem's attention away from us and give us the time needed to reach Atlas."

"Always an optimist, ain'tcha?" Qrow muttered.

" _Hopefully_ Adam Taurus remains locked away and we can tell James the White Fang's High Leader is in custody," Ozpin reminded him. "If not, we prepare for the alternative. Make no mistake: I'm glad Xiao Long and the others were able to deal with this dangerous threat, but I do not pretend this victory makes up for what it cost us to get here."

Ozpin raised the lamp in Oscar's hand. "There are only so many times you can ask a question and expect it to have an answer."

* * *

Blake requested only one thing from the police: the piece of Adam's mask Yang broke off during their battle. Though one Mistralian officer seemed interested in taking it –either as evidence or a trophy, he didn't specify- Kali was able to point out that they had the man they'd come for, and hopefully that'd be enough for their superiors and their council. Eventually they agreed, and Blake took one last look at the bound and unconscious Adam before he was carted off into the sky.

She loved him once… loved him so much she left her parents' home to fight alongside him. She was just a child then, so headstrong and naïve…

One look over to her mother brought things back into focus. Whatever she may have done and for however long she allowed Adam to rampage, he was finally in the past and no longer a grim specter hanging over her, an eternal reminder of how she ran away. Now she was-

Looking past her mother towards Yang led that feeling to vanish. There was still one _other_ reminder of her cowardice and failure: a piece of Atlesian technology painted black and yellow and grafted onto a metal bolt on Yang's arm. _That_ reminder would always be there, every time she saw Yang… every time she was in the vicinity of her partner.

Blake shifted her focus back to the piece of Adam's mask, the proof of his defeat. She needed to get back to the White Fang's headquarters and to Ilia, Sun, and the others. If any of Adam's followers remained to threaten her friends, she'd show them clearly they no longer had anyone to lead them…

Her heart unexpectedly sank at the thought. Her father had been preparing to take up that mantle, to resume the burden of leadership he'd held six years earlier. Adam had tried to force the White Fang to unite under him by killing the other aspirant to leadership, and with his capture there was a void left at the top of their organization. Depleted as their ranks may have been, there were undoubtedly opportunists waiting to move in and seize the reins of power.

And of course, she'd never see her father leading them again…

Blake shook her head and turned her attention to the others. "Ruby, Weiss, Y-" she stopped at that last one and corrected herself, "Ruby, Weiss, we need to go back and get the others out. They're still trapped inside the temple."

Yang met Blake's eye. Blake did her best not to appear as though she was ignoring her partner. She lowered her eyes to the wound in Yang's side, hoping the blonde would get the hint and believe she was remaining behind because she was injured. But then, that was the reason they'd left Weiss behind with her the last time….

Blake turned her back and started her walk. Ruby cast a look back towards her sister, who reached out to grasp her shoulder and smile, offering reassurance without ever saying a word. Ruby headed after Blake, Weiss eventually going after them, muttering about trying to make the long trek ahead on foot, prompting Ruby to snark at her about her 'lady stilts.'

Yang slowly turned her attention to the only one left with her. Kali was watching Blake's departure, and once her daughter was out of sight shifted her attention to Adam as the police prepared to depart with their captive in their airship. It seemed she was looking everywhere but at Yang.

No, that probably wasn't the case. She was seeing something that wasn't there, unintentionally projecting her resentment of Blake onto Kali or letting her own insecurities get the better of her. Kali needed closure after what happened to her husband, and Yang's presence was just a reminder of how she'd suffered; how distraught she'd become after losing him.

Yang should have left her to her grief. She thought whatever else might happen tonight, she could use a rest and a chance to recuperate from the wounds. Whatever scars Adam inflicted now, at least he was finally gone.

Did that make her feel better?

No. It had never been about him.

He scared her because he'd hurt her. But Yang's hand didn't shake and she didn't suffer terrible nightmares because of him. It wasn't his voice she heard when Yang felt fear creeping in. All she heard was Blake begging her not to intervene or saying she was sorry right before she left.

And now, it seemed, even after Adam was gone Blake still couldn't-

Yang felt a hand reach down and find hers' before she could depart. She stopped and turned her attention to Kali, the older Faunus meeting her eye without trouble.

"We… should talk," she tentatively suggested. She maintained eye contact throughout, but her voice was timid, barely above a whisper. "Things may _seem_ like they're over, but we _both_ know they're not."

Yang looked down at the hand holding her own. She wasn't sure how she'd respond. She wasn't entirely sure how Kali _wanted_ her to.

Talking. Focus on the talking. "Yeah," Yang agreed.

She tried not to squeeze the hand holding her own. It wasn't often Yang avoided showing affection and she knew it didn't suit her… but she wasn't sure what to do. She wasn't sure she ever had been.

* * *

Ruby moved ahead of the others to send a message to their friends still trapped in the White Fang headquarters, letting them know about Adam's capture and telling them to stay put and not risk bringing the roof down with more excavation. Once Weiss and Blake caught up with her and they regrouped outside the temple, Blake turned her attention to the piece of Adam's mask she'd brought along with her, still stained by a few flecks of dried blood and scuffed by the impact of Yang's Dust. Those still willing to follow Adam would respect the strength it took to remove him, if nothing else.

Night had fallen, and it was far easier to find the remaining White Fang loyalists now, even if Ruby and Weiss weren't able to see them. Blake held the fragment of Adam's mask aloft over her head, as high as she could, hoping it'd draw their attention.

They were slow to abandon their positions around the crumbling structure, passing the message along about Blake's presence. Blake carefully considered how to address them: she was struggling hard against the instinct to simply chase them away with a show of force to go with the trophy. Violence was useful in getting her to this point, and these loyalists had _not_ been dissuaded by Adam's horrific actions and willingness to sacrifice one life after another. They may not even have been dissuaded after Adam sacrificed _them_.

Blake had already killed many of her former brothers, if even indirectly. It'd be easy to do the same tonight, and perhaps in doing so she could prevent problems in the future… prevent more extremists like Adam from seizing power while the White Fang remained in its state of flux.

Blake called her father a coward for being unwilling to use violence when it seemed peaceful protest hadn't led to change. She'd thrown out all his lessons and followed Adam, believing that his way was the future… and now, to her horror, she'd been right.

Her father brought an army with him to Mistral, but not one he ever meant to fight with. Not unless it was absolutely necessary.

"Brothers of the White Fang," Blake called to them, trying to keep her tone even and not betray any anger. She tried to be understanding… to accept back those who'd been molded by mistreatment and spite, and not answer the hatred Adam instilled in them with her own. She tried to offer an open hand rather than a closed fist. "Adam Taurus has been captured. It's over: he's lost."

That was needlessly harsh. No doubt some of them were mourning Adam and not just his cause. Blake quickly amended: "But the White Fang has always been greater than any one person. Whatever Adam believed, whatever Sienna Khan believed… whatever _my father_ believed… we all fought for better lives for Faunus at one time or another. We can still fight for that. We can still fight for something better."

Once she was certain they'd all seen the broken mask, Blake set the fragment down in the dirt. "Please, don't keep going down this path. We don't have to fight each other anymore."

She waited to see how they'd respond. Some may well be so committed as to try and avenge Adam's defeat even against those who bested him. Some might be unable to overcome their own hatred of humanity and refuse to side with someone with two humans standing at her back. Some may have been so used to the dark that they'd be afraid to step out into the light.

Blake was tempted to reach for Gambol Shroud, to be ready for the fight… but that was an instinct Adam instilled in her long ago, and never a lesson her father imparted. So she left her hand open and extended, to welcome back into the fold those who'd done her harm. Forgiveness wouldn't be easy to offer… but nothing worth doing was ever easy.

She waited a long time with her outstretched hand as they stepped closer, waiting to see if they too could overcome their hate and mistrust.

* * *

Nora knew that her friends were coming to the rescue, but she didn't care for waiting. She never had. Even knowing the White Fang might try to bar their way after Ruby and Blake were let out or her own efforts might bring the roof down on their heads, Nora continued to try and find a way through the rubble. She was just as relieved as the others were when Blake reported Adam's capture, but couldn't simply stand down like her friends. So long as Jaune and Ren –and to a lesser extent Sun and Blake's friend Ilia- were in danger she couldn't ever hope to relax. As a result, when a low rumbling caught everyone's attention and the stone seat of the High Leader moved aside to reveal a new entrance, Nora rushed towards it with hammer in hand.

Ruby instantly threw up her hands as she emerged from underground. "Whoa, it's okay! We surrender!"

Nora's gratitude wasn't so overwhelming she couldn't avoid a little dig: "What took you so long?"

"Oh, you're gonna like this," Ruby assured her. "You shoulda been there to see it…"

* * *

Kali and Yang opted to use the latter's room rather than talk out in the front area, just in case Oscar and Qrow wandered through. They'd been out of the loop for events and would probably be quite confused if they stumbled upon Yang and Kali trying to discuss their… relationship, whatever it may have been. For a long time, however, all they did was sit on Yang's bed and not look at each other, at least until Kali forced herself to look at the girl and not show the same distance and trepidation Blake had.

Yang had already explained how badly things went with Blake. And given the way the two girls interacted –if it could even be called that- it was clear things remained unresolved there. Kali could simply consider Yang's actions an impulsive choice, and one that they could both put behind them. Kali would very much like to assure the poor girl that things were okay, especially now.

"Did it help you any, Yang? Finally being rid of him?" Kali asked.

"I don't know," Yang admitted. "I mean, I know it _should_ make me feel better, going out and stopping the bad guy. That's what I do, you know? And maybe people are safer now that he's locked up… but then, we locked up bad guys before and they didn't let themselves stay that way. Maybe I should have killed him… and when I think that, that maybe there's no way around it, then I just end up feeling worse. Whatever he is, whatever he did to me, I never thought when I got here that's what I'd do. I never even knew I'd fight him again at all."

"What did you expect would happen when you got here?" Kali inquired.

"I came to Mistral for my sister," Yang answered. "I didn't know if I'd reunite with Blake, I didn't know if I'd ever see her again. Part of me –a _big_ part of me- just wanted never to see her again, never think about her, stop remembering what went on between us at Beacon. I was so tired of being hurt and not being able to _not_ feel that way, so I went to find Ruby. She was all I ever needed to feel better.

"But then, just when I thought I had all I needed it just came back and hit me all over again," Yang went on. "She and Weiss started talking about Blake and all that good I'd built up just fell apart. And I admitted it, that I needed her back in my life somehow. It's why I reached out my arm when she showed up, why I thought I could forgive her and everything would just sort of work out. And when I heard you guys sent Adam packing I was ready for things to get back to… well, maybe not _normal_ , nothing's normal now, but for us all to be together and in sync again.

"Then I woke up after another bad dream and thought nothing really changed, much as I wanted it to," Yang bitterly added. "Who's to say things are any different now? Who's to say now that I _know_ Adam's locked up that I'll sleep through the night? And if I _had_ killed him, would that make things easier? Would it be easier for me to sleep if he was in the ground? What kind of person am I to even _ask_ that?"

Yang brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms over her legs. "I just… I just want to know that I won't be hurting eventually, even if it's not tonight, even if it's not tomorrow. I want to know that Blake and I will fix things… or at least be able to talk like we did before we hooked up. Adam's been hanging over her head for so long, I hope getting rid of him helped _her_ deal."

They both knew it hadn't. Or at least, it hadn't fixed enough for Blake to open up to Yang again. The man who maimed Yang and abused Blake may have been dealt with, but the scars left were still nagging them.

Kali wanted to reach over and put an arm around Yang or pull the blonde girl's head to her lap and remove the kinks in her hair again. But when she moved her hand nearer she hesitated, her arm hanging uselessly in the air.

It wouldn't be so hard for her to rationalize the action. She'd let Blake rest her head in Kali's lap as readily as she'd let Ghira. It didn't have to mean anything more than affection and kindness. It could be whatever she decided it was.

But how would _Yang_ interpret it? Would she see it as a sort of maternal gesture or as a romantic one?

And how did Kali _want_ Yang to see it?

She pushed away that thought. Yang just needed someone to be there for her. It _should_ have been Blake, but for now…

Kali finally found Yang's hair and gently tugged her down, directing her to lie with her head nestled to Kali's lap. She set to work just brushing the girl's hair with her fingers, not saying a word, not offering insight… but determinedly assuring herself it was a simple act without any more purpose. Hopefully Yang would understand and not act on that.

Yang needed a mother. _And_ … if not a lover, or a girlfriend, at least someone who could remind her that she was loved in a variety of different ways. Kali just didn't want to try and be both.

Whatever triumph the night had brought, the battle was _not_ over. For now, Kali would help Yang rest and put her more at ease before she interceded on Yang's behalf.

Of all the things she never wanted to tell Blake… but it was clear to her now this had to be done.

* * *

When they finally returned to the house _everyone_ was eager for a meal, a shower, and a long rest. When Kali emerged from Yang's room, Blake thought nothing of it –it was just like her mother to see to her friend's wellbeing, just as she had with Sun in Menagerie- until Kali pulled her aside from the others and said: "There's something you need to know."

She took a while to recount it. Blake couldn't recall ever seeing her mother blush before tonight. She could barely credit what she was hearing, and she'd never had much trouble hearing things before. She thought seeing Adam in chains would be the most surprising thing she'd see tonight. The sight of her mother's reddened cheeks somehow managed to top that.

Surprise, however, gave way to a sudden spiking anger. She had left Yang in the house to recuperate because she _thought_ Yang had a rough enough time after meeting up with her mom again and then watching Adam murder Ghira. Blake had been trying to be kind, maybe even trying to be protective by keeping Yang out of the action. And in that _single day_ had used the opportunity to seduce her mother?

Blake tried to be understanding of it. They were both in a bad place, both working through terrible tragedies… but her mother's was so much worse. Yang may have had the right to be downcast, but to Blake it sounded like exploiting a tragedy.

"You should both rest for a while," Kali gently suggested. "And have a long talk in the morning."

Blake simply nodded. Her mother seemed to believe she was too in shock to muster much more reaction than that. Or maybe that was what she _wanted_ to believe so she could escape the awkward conversation and go help Ren prepare food for everyone after their long day.

Her mother was right, of course: she shouldn't act rashly. That was what led Yang to do this. But there was no way she'd be able to sleep with this hanging over her head.

Once she was certain her mother's attention was on cutlery and tea trays and not on her, Blake headed right for Yang's room. Ruby and Weiss saw where she was going and determinedly avoided getting in her way. They'd probably have something to contribute, but Blake suspected they'd been waiting for this to finally happen and left Blake to hash things out.

Perhaps they should have spoken sooner… but they'd never really had the opportunity. They hadn't even had a night's rest before Adam struck back and robbed Blake of her father.

And Yang hadn't even waited a day before she…

Blake stepped inside. Yang looked up from her bed and sat upright as Blake closed the door behind her.

She'd spent the day carefully containing her emotions, not letting herself be compromised by them. The efforts she went to helped the White Fang lay down their arms and lead her to her friends. But then, she'd also ran herself ragged when it came to saving her mother's life. Protecting the parent she still had took precedence now just as it had then. And so she relaxed her firm grip: "What did you do?"

Yang narrowed her eyes. "So, I guess you and Kali talked."

Blake tried to be a little less confrontational before she admonished Yang for using her mother's given name. Yang had always been informal, and given what she'd done already… "What's going on here, Yang? Why did you do that?"

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Yang whimsically replied.

Blake tried to stay calm. "I thought you'd finally learned to stop and think before you acted."

"I _did_ stop," Yang pointed out. "Maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe then you'd have a _good_ reason to be upset with me."

"You mean kissing my mother isn't reason enough?" Blake demanded, her anger lacing every word in the smallest, subtlest amount… she knew she was losing her grip.

Yang had no need for any of Blake's subtlety. "What do you care? You abandoned both of us! You ran instead of taking the time to _say_ anything! Why should I listen to what you have to say now? Why should I think this time will be any different?"

Blake was taken aback, but only momentarily. She tried to reaffirm her control, to not lose sight. "I… just think you should listen to me because this is about my mother. I'm sure you understand I'm protective… after what happened."

"Yeah, I get that," Yang conceded. "I can see why this would bother you. We _should_ talk about things."

She gave Blake the floor. But Blake wasn't sure what she had to say. Other than a stern warning and reprimand, which would probably just upset Yang further. "Maybe when you're… healed, we can-" Blake averted her gaze. She knew it was a mistake to look away, but the sight of her wounds and her prosthetic arm…

Yang scoffed. "Oh, right, another time. You've barely spoken to me at all since you came back. You ran away then and you're running away now. Why should I bother listening when all I'll hear are the sounds of your footsteps heading away from me?"

Blake made herself face Yang, focusing on her eyes. "Whatever happened with my mother-"

"Why should your mother listen to you?" Yang growled. Slowly her eyes shifted from lilac to red. "Why should she believe anything you say when you chose _Adam_ over her?!"

Blake remembered the moment well. She was still only a child then. So was he.

But she had, she lashed out at her parents and ran away with him, then fell in love with him, then stood idly by while he became worse and worse…

"I'm…" Blake tried to think of what to say. She couldn't bear to look in those eyes when they burned with Yang's rage. She couldn't look at the metal on her arm or the scar on her side. She couldn't turn her eye anywhere.

She was doing this for her mother. So she kept talking. "I'm scared, Yang. I've always been scared. I couldn't have gone if it wasn't for Adam. When I left home, it felt like the first time I was running _towards_ something instead of away from it. But deep down it hurt. It hurt so much and it felt like I betrayed them. They sacrificed so much for me… when they left the White Fang they thought they did it for me, so I wouldn't get caught up in the violence. And all I did was ruin their plan and blame everything on them."

Blake reached up to wrap her arms over her chest, lest the weight of memory reach her heart. "I was so grateful they took me back. I thought they'd hate me –I hoped they would- but they didn't. And now…" She forced herself to look at Yang. "I know what I did was wrong. I _know_. I thought we were fighting for equality, I thought things were getting better for the Faunus, but all I was doing was helping Adam with his dirty work. All I was doing was helping a bad man be even worse… and they still forgave me, and my Mom… she still reached out to hug me when I-"

"Tell me, Blake," Yang requested. "Tell me I don't get it. Tell me you've _ever_ known right from wrong."

Blake had long practiced facing ahead when addressing someone harshly refuting her. She'd made eye contact with the most bigoted and prejudiced people three times her size. By the time she could walk she'd help up a sign from her father's side. That was never so difficult as looking at Yang now.

For her mother. "I want to keep her safe, Yang. What happens after you kiss her? We bring her to Atlas with us? We teach her how to fight so she can help us battle Salem?"

"I was playing it by ear," Yang replied.

"And what, just making yourself feel better?" Blake demanded, fierce once again. "She just lost her husband and you thought that was a good time for… I don't even know how to describe it, I don't even know where to _begin_."

"Then don't," Yang bluntly suggested. "I'm not saying we have anything going on or, have to continue or whatever. I'm just saying that we… had a connection. We bonded."

"And I know my mom, she's friendly, she's affectionate," Blake agreed. "But this is too far. This is you… what? Why did you even _want_ to kiss her?"

Apparently Kali hadn't covered that part. Yang stopped a moment to think: admit it had been Blake on her mind or keep pushing this façade that Kali had drawn her interest? It wasn't _entirely_ untrue. Yang wasn't sure she needed to explain herself in any greater detail. It wasn't like Yang to be opaque, but she opted to hint at her intentions rather than state them outright. "I guess I have a type," she dryly remarked.

The implication sailed right over Blake's head. "Don't you get what you're putting her through? What do you think will happen when she's in a better state of mind? Do you think she isn't _already_ feeling worse because you… why are we even talking about this? Why are you being so stubborn?"

"I've always been stubborn," Yang blithely replied. "And she's… special. I'm sure you know that."

Blake wasn't sure what to make of it exactly. Her mother hadn't revealed too many details… or if she had, Blake had been too stunned to absorb them. So she thought back on what Weiss told her before about Yang's mother Raven, and the crushing despair Yang felt at knowing the sort of person her mother was and the disappointment she'd felt meeting her again. Maybe Yang was simply seeking solace.

And that just made Blake lash out even more. "What is _wrong_ with you?! Are you so desperate –so _lonely_ \- that you think this is a good idea? Don't you realize you'll just hurt her? Don't you realize what she's lost?"

"You think I don't get it?" Yang demanded. "You think I don't understand how it feels to lose someone you love? You think I'm just using her?"

"I think you're doing this so _you_ don't have to hurt because of what happened with your mom," Blake harshly replied. "I think you'll…" Blake stopped herself before she got too personal. She was so far off track, and this wasn't helping. Yang needed to be soothed, not reprimanded. "…I just think you need to slow down."

Those words had helped Blake when she didn't want to hear them. Yang had said them to her and helped her get back on track. Hopefully the moment stood out in Yang's memory just as much as it did in Blake's.

"And what, not feel what I feel?" Yang asked. "Just turn my feelings off and leave your mom alone?"

That'd be ideal… but Blake had to concede it was an unrealistic expectation. She just couldn't wrap her head around how Yang and her mom-

A thought.

"Were you…" Blake wondered.

"Was I what?" Yang asked.

The memory flooded back to her, a few nights after the Breach. She climbed up into Yang's bunk. It wasn't the first time Blake rested beside her, but it was the _only_ time she'd done more than that.

She pretended it was a mistake. She didn't want to acknowledge what she was feeling.

"Yang… is this about _me_?" Blake finally asked.

Silence hung in the air.

Yang closed her eyes for a long moment. When she opened them again her eyes were lilac once more. "I don't know. Maybe. I don't know exactly how I'm feeling. I don't know what I want. I don't know what _she_ wants. I just know when I was with her I wasn't hurting. I wasn't alone."

Blake hadn't given it thought. When she left Beacon, it had been to spare her friends Adam's wrath. When she left Yang's bed that morning…

Was that to protect her too?

No, that was an excuse at best, an outright lie at worst. Blake felt the same as Yang had now. She didn't know what it was or how to explain it. She didn't have to be alone. She didn't have to know _why_ she acted, only to act. It… seemed like a good idea at the time.

Blake sat down beside Yang on her bed.

She looked over at the prosthetic arm, the reminder of Adam's terrible wrath and Blake's abandonment. More than those burning, angry eyes Blake couldn't bear to see it.

But it'd always be there now. Maybe it'd always hurt to see. But she _had_ to look at it. It was a part of Yang, just as much as the hand that embraced her before had been.

Blake reached over and slid her fingers over Yang's cold metal hand. She squeezed it tight, prompting Yang to look on, confused.

"I'm sorry," Blake finally said. She looked up and met her partner's eye. "All this time I've been afraid to respond to you, and I… every time I had the chance I just ran to do something else. And I'm so tired of running. I'm so tired of feeling guilt and hurting because I couldn't just talk to you."

Blake nestled close. "I don't know how you feel or why you feel what you feel, but I want to at least _try_ and understand it. I want to be here for you now. I just… I don't want to lose my mother and I couldn't let go of that."

Yang was slow to react. But eventually she returned Blake's grip, squeezing her hand with metal feeling increasingly warmer between her fingers. "You won't. I promise you you won't."

Now Blake had to ask the most important question.

"And what about you, Yang?" Blake wondered. "Did I push you away? Did I lose you too?"

Yang had been tempted more than once to move on. For a few fleeting moments she'd been ready to forget how she felt and move on from the past.

"Never," Yang finally said.

For another long moment they sat on the bed hand in hand.

"And… this thing with my mother…" Blake began.

"Yeah," Yang agreed. "I should… I should stop. I should let her go."

"…do you want to?"

Yang tried to answer.

She knew what she wanted to say. But she couldn't manage to say it. Not with Blake holding her hand.

Blake didn't press her. She knew what she was asking Yang to give up.

They sat on the bed in silence, each waiting for the other to speak…

"No," Yang finally admitted. "I don't. But I will, if you ask me to."

Another long silence.

"Please, Yang."

Yang closed her eyes. "Okay."

Blake nestled closer, still holding her hand. "…I missed you."

Yang wanted to say she missed her too. Yang wanted to say she was grateful to have Blake back in her life, whatever it took to get there.

But at that moment all Yang could think of was what lay ahead. Of what she'd have to say to Kali.

Yang knew that this wouldn't bring her what she was seeking. It'd probably hurt for her to do it: hurt her and Kali both. But she understood the need for Blake to have her mother without the bizarre complication of… whatever Yang and Kali had shared.

It was the right thing to do.

Or so Yang kept telling herself.


	9. Hand in Hand

**Chapter Nine: Hand in Hand**

* * *

"This is so good!" Ruby exclaimed as she reached for her second bowl. Upon taking note of a very stern and disappointed looking Nora, Ruby quickly clarified: "Er, Ren's food is really good too, I just think Mrs. Belladonna made it better is all!"

Ren placed a reassuring hand on Nora's shoulder. "I don't mind at all. I'm happy to learn how to improve upon the recipe." Though Nora seemed willing to defend his recipe further, she did mellow out… and then discreetly reached for seconds herself, now that she no longer felt obligated to fight on his behalf.

Kali chuckled to herself. "Lie's stew was very good for travel. We could add more to the stock and make it thicker now that he doesn't have to lug it around."

"Oh, Jaune was the one carrying our rations," Ren explained. "The trek over Anima was a long walk and he insisted on it."

"Of course he did," Weiss observed. "We had him carry all our things back to the dorms whenever we were done shopping in Vale."

"Sisters broke me in early," Jaune assured her. "You get used to it."

Kali patiently listened to Jaune's tales of siblings. It wasn't exactly something she could relate to, but not the first time she'd heard the tale, entertaining as often as she did on behalf of the High Leader and later the Chieftain. And Jaune never once noticed when her eye slid past him to see Yang and Blake emerge from Yang's room, and she listened intently for the opportunity to extricate herself from the conversation in the most polite manner she could. Fortunately, once Nora let her appetite run wild Kali was given her opportunity, suspecting they'd need some extra helpings.

Weiss and Ruby spotted their teammates too, looking right past Jaune as he continued his recounting. Blake took her mother's seat, smiling at her gathered friends, engaging the still fairly quiet Ilia in conversation. Weiss tried not to fixate her attention on Yang as the blonde stepped past them to the kitchen, but was much less practiced at making her actions discreet. Ruby took note of Weiss's distant look and elbowed her. Weiss glared at Ruby for a moment but quickly rejoined the others in the conversation, playing off Ruby's bit of roughhousing and listening to Sun talk about the fruitless search for a secret entrance and how he nearly knocked a stone column on Ilia's head.

In the kitchen, Kali moved slightly out of visual range from the dining room table. Yang followed suit and sat on the countertop beside her, Kali clanking bowls about to give the appearance of activity. "Did you… have a good talk?"

"Sort of," Yang replied. "We… I won't say we really fixed anything between us, but we were able to let out a lot of the things we kept bottled up. It's not something we'll be able to resolve overnight."

"No, I imagine not," Kali conceded. "But you two are… okay?"

"Yeah," Yang nodded. "Okay."

For a while they were quiet, Kali running out of excuses to draw out the conversation longer, only hoping the kids at the table wouldn't notice the silence hanging between Yang and herself.

Yang broke that silence, reaching her left hand to find Kali's wrist. Their eyes met. "I told her I'd stop… whatever it was I was doing with you. I wish I'd had the chance to tell you first before I agreed to it, but she needed to know."

Yang's gaze was steady and her hand firm on Kali's wrist. Kali's attention was all for those lilac eyes, though eventually she looked down at the hand upon her, slowly sliding up her arm and intertwining her fingers with Yang's own.

She wasn't sure what to say. A word of thanks? An apology? A reassurance that was the right thing to do?

Her rational mind told her that was the right thing to do. Her memories of her husband told her that this was a momentary slip-up; the need for something to soothe her loneliness. The sight of her daughter at a table surrounded by friends told her that no matter what, she was no longer alone in the world.

Her heart told her that she felt something… not anything she could describe, not something she could clearly define, but _something_ that pulled down a painful weight in her chest knowing what Yang's departure would entail. The thought of her husband reminded her how hard it had been to sleep alone, and how she'd have to get used to that all over again. The sight of her daughter reminded her that if she _was_ ever able to move on she'd never replace what she had with Ghira, not even with Blake's partner and (once?) closest friend.

Kali needed to act in some way to reassure Yang. The longer she took the greater doubts she'd sow, and the worse Yang would feel about this… breakup? Realignment?

 _Change._ Change was unavoidable in life.

Kali met Yang's eye again. She was drawing closer to the girl's face, so close she could feel soft breaths reach her lips as they had before…

Kali closed her eyes and readjusted her trajectory, pressing her forehead to the taller girl's cheek. Kali released her grip on Yang's hand and wrapped her arms around her. Yang returned the gesture, squeezing Kali tight from the back and adjusting her position on the counter to draw her in closer, reaching up with her left hand to the back of Kali's head, holding the embrace.

Yang didn't know if she'd ever hug Kali again. The first time had been an act of sympathy, and the ones that followed only grew more complex. This one?

Love. Of _some_ kind. Maybe not a kind she'd ever realize or act upon, but something burning inside her that was real and powerful. Something that she could hold close, if even only one more time… if even only one _last_ time.

Blake looked on from the table, just barely able to watch the two hold onto each other. Sun poked his head over from nearby. "Man, your mom really likes Yang, huh?"

"She's a hugger," was Blake's dismissive reply. When the two stepped away from each other and her mother gathered the extra dishes, enlisting Yang's aid in carrying them, Blake was finally able to give Ilia proper attention. Once Yang set down the goodies before Nora and moved to sit between Ruby and Weiss, Blake relaxed enough to let the thought pass.

Her seat now occupied by her daughter, Kali sat down beside Sun. She briefly thought on being introduced to the boy, wondering what could promote someone to follow her daughter halfway around the world…

But now, it seemed he wasn't the only one willing to make such a journey. Or such a sacrifice.

Kali didn't want Yang to think she was being ignored, but she didn't want to look at those eyes anymore either. Not until she'd moved on from… whatever they'd ended to a proper goodbye.

She still wasn't sure how she was going to say it.

* * *

Qrow and Oscar set out again in the morning in search of a ship. Jaune, Nora and Ren would guard the relic. Kali requested Sun and Ilia's company, partially so the girls from Team RWBY would have no other choice but to interact, partially because she thought they'd be the best choices to join her on a stop she made.

She had to return to Menagerie sooner than later, but there was something she had to do before she took her leave. There was something she had to say.

"Is he awake?" Kali asked the nearest patrolman. Sun and Ilia glanced nervously at the various policemen, some of whom may not have cared for Faunus… or might be inclined to look into their own history of assorted misdeeds, once Kali left them to wait for her.

"He hasn't slept," the patrolman answered. "We've had men posted on him all night. All he's done is stare up at the ceiling."

"And how long do I have?" Kali asked.

"Five minutes," the patrolman promised. "And that makes us even."

"Of course," Kali agreed. "I won't be long."

The patrolman led her in. Kali smiled at Sun and Ilia before following, descending from the ground level to a basement, stepping past lightly armored men to much more heavily armed ones, standing with weapons drawn to a dingy cell built into the rock, dimly illuminated by a single torch. Adam lay on the stone ground, with neither cot nor toilet or any sort of amenity. Kali wasn't sure how humane it was to treat prisoners like this, but she wasn't quite bothered enough to ask the guards to grant him better living conditions.

His mask was broken. It was the first time she'd seen the color of his eyes since he was a child. "Thank you for agreeing to see me."

"…do I have a choice?" was his bleak reply.

"You _always_ had a choice," Kali replied, trying to be blunt without being harsh. Adam was never one to mince words –even as a child- and she thought she should respond in kind. "This is where you decided to be."

Adam stood up. Kali stared straight ahead, looking up to meet his eye. "Did you just come to mock me?"

"No," Kali assured him. "I just wanted to tell you something. Something you won't want to hear."

"You can tell me when I get out," Adam promised. "Because I _will_. This isn't where things end for the White Fang and this isn't where things end for me. I will escape and I will follow Blake wherever she runs to."

Adam was always making promises. He did not want for determination, nor did he ever fail to put in the work needed to excel. Were Kali not so determined to say her piece, the threat may well have scared her.

"You're right about one thing," Kali told him. "This isn't the end of the White Fang. They'll go on without you, just as they would have after you murdered Sienna."

"And your husband," Adam hissed.

Kali was quiet for a second, but wouldn't allow him to see how affected. She pressed on. "And you'll be pleased to hear that you won't be forgotten. I'll make sure everyone knows what you did and all those you had to kill to get where you are."

Adam smiled smugly at the thought.

Blake's mistake had been to not indulge him; to try and minimize his importance to her. Kali understood what her daughter was trying to accomplish, but undermining him only made him more dangerous. She wasn't at all happy feeding Adam's ego, but it wasn't the first time Kali had to grin and bear it for a political advantage.

"When I return to Menagerie I'll tell everyone how you slew him, how my husband was killed by a great warrior," Kali promised him. "I'll explain how he died in the combat he never wanted us to resort to."

Adam beamed at the very thought.

"And then I'll tell them all how my daughter and her teammates avenged him," Kali added. "How humans and Faunus worked together against a common enemy, and spared his miserable life, because it is so much crueler to let him live knowing he failed in _everything_ he sought out to do."

Adam's expression soured. He glared with his sole visible eye.

"Blake brought your loyalists back into the fold," Kali explained. "The messengers you sent out spreading word of Ghira's death are now telling the continent about your defeat. The men you sacrificed so you could destroy our headquarters in Mistral are returning with me to Menagerie to be buried in their family plots. Blake and her friends are going to continue on without any reason to fear you, because now they _know_ they can beat you."

Adam's rage erupted. He slammed against the metal bars, thrashing wildly like a beast. The Mistralian police leveled their weapons but Kali didn't show any fear.

"You killed my husband and I should hate you for that. You hurt my daughter and I should hate you for that. You maimed Yang and I should hate you for that ," Kali acknowledged. "But I don't. Because I know what you gave up to get here. I _don't_ hate you, Adam… I _pity_ you. Because while the White Fang, while the Faunus, while _history_ will remember the warrior you were… your story ends sitting in this cell, while everyone you hurt goes on."

Kali reached a hand to touch his cheek through the metal bars, pulling it away when Adam tried to bite her.

"I made Blake a promise!" Adam snarled. "I will destroy everything – _ **everything**_ \- she loves!"

"She loved you once," Kali reminded him. "Make all the promises you want, Adam. Because you know that'll never be true again. It'll be so much worse to sit here, alone and unloved, than it could ever be to die knowing you were loved."

Adam continued to glower at her, breathing heavily as he gripped the metal bars. Kali closed her eyes, listening to his growls for a moment and thinking on the orphan she once looked after -the boy she didn't mind her daughter playing with- and not dwelling on the monster standing on the other side of those bars.

She wouldn't be able to remember him as that boy, but she didn't want to _only_ think of him as the vicious psychopath he became. Kali would have to remember every detail in recounting his history, to make his fall that much more tragic… to make it clear to the next generation to join the White Fang that the best among them could fall, and even something as beautiful as love could be twisted into a dangerous and frightful obsession.

And, of course, that the Belladonna family unseated the usurper they'd once taken in… and now he was nothing more than a chained beast rotting in a cell underground.

"I hope you can find some peace in this new life," Kali finally told him. "I hope you won't spend the rest of your days dwelling on your anger and your hate.

"Because this _is_ where you'll spend the rest of your days, Adam. This is how your story ends."

Adam was incandescent with rage. He couldn't form words to reply. If he was going to make it past that virulent hate, it wouldn't be today. If he was going to accept Kali's pity, it wouldn't be until long after he'd seen the back of her.

Kali wasn't at all afraid to show him her back. "Goodbye, Adam."

He was quiet when the patrolman led her back aboveground. When she disappeared from his sight, Kali heard him thrashing against the bars again, screaming her name, screaming Ghira's name, swearing vengeance again and again…

And then, softly, heard only by Kali's sensitive ears, he whispered between quiet, strangled sobs: "Blake…"

Kali turned her attention to Sun and Ilia, who'd patiently waited for her. Fortunately, it seemed the police had respect enough for Kali's help in apprehending Adam they hadn't looked too closely into her friends. She thanked them both for indulging her, and bid them to return to rest a while longer.

* * *

When night fell again Qrow returned with news of transport. Now all that remained were arrangements, for who'd be heading for Atlas. Kali knew that she wouldn't be joining them, but Blake would go where her team went, and Ilia and Sun would follow Blake. Kali spent a few precious moments at her daughter's side, but wasn't in the mood to join in another celebratory meal. She prepared the dish, she served some tea, she made an appearance… and then she went to her room to go to bed.

Kali knew she should get used to what awaited her: what would feel dark and cold for a very long time, because she'd always had arms to hold her while she slept. There were so many changes to make, so much change she wasn't at all prepared for…

She heard the door open. It closed almost as swiftly.

A pair of arms draped over her back.

Kali felt the soft fur of a Faunus ear press to the back of her neck, and heard her baby girl's voice: "I miss him so much."

Kali couldn't deny she'd hoped for something else. But Blake had spent all the time bottling up her feelings, focusing her attention on pursuing Adam and then on rebuilding bridges with Yang she hadn't had the chance to grieve. And whatever Kali might've wanted to find her tonight –whoever she might've wished to see- this would always be more important.

Kali turned around and embraced her child. "It's okay, sweetie. I miss him too."

Blake didn't bring up Yang. Kali put the thought from her mind and held her daughter close.

She hoped Blake would sleep. It was much less important now if Kali managed to get there.

* * *

Morning came unexpectedly soon. Oscar and Qrow had found passage for Kali without much difficulty, and she prepared to set out and return home, gathering what few personal effects remained to her. Sun half-jokingly suggested she come along to Atlas with them, and Kali politely declined. Duty compelled her south, just as it pulled Blake and her friends north.

She was the only one heading home. Though Ilia and Blake were –perhaps justifiably- concerned with some retaliation towards her, Kali insisted Ilia protect her daughter. Ilia eventually promised to do just that, and Blake opted not to protest the issue further.

Kali said individual goodbyes to each of them, suggesting they all find time to visit her in Menagerie once they were able without the weight of some fight over relics and against Grimm –though she wasn't _entirely_ clear on all the finer details there- and they had time to bond under better circumstances. She took a particularly long time saying her farewell to Ruby, whom Kali only wished she'd had longer to talk to. Weiss started out very formal and polite, but she shed any sense of propriety once a hug was offered, much to Kali's delight.

Yang…

They had to put on a show for the others. Kali hugged Yang only briefly, and Yang's grip was much less firm than she recalled. But when Yang withdrew from the embrace, Kali took hold of Yang's right hand and the arm she'd been so self-conscious about, interlocking their fingers. Yang met her eye one final time.

Blake was looking on from nearby. Yang knew she couldn't draw this out. "Thank you, Kali. For everything."

"I'm going to miss you, Yang," Kali assured her. "Please take care of the girls for me."

"Always," Yang assured her. She wished she could say more. She wished she could _do_ more.

But this was the way things had to be. They had to end before they could properly begin.

Kali relaxed her grip. Yang's hand slid through her fingers as she left Blake to embrace her mother one final time. She looked back only once, but Kali's attention was firmly on her daughter now, and Yang made no effort to interrupt them. She knew how important it was to have a mother's attention upon you, and how strong the feeling was.

Yang wrapped either arm over Ruby and Weiss and headed off to join the others, leaving Kali and Blake to say their goodbyes.

The boat wasn't a particularly spacious one like the cruise ship she took to Menagerie, but there were decks with proper rails and places to go and spread out. Qrow and Oscar confined themselves to their quarters with their precious cargo, while the others were exploring the ship or looking out over the water. Blake was positioned at the very stern of the boat, looking south towards the disappearing shore of Anima, growing more distant with every blink.

She heard footsteps approaching. She already knew who it was, and didn't bother to look.

Yang leaned on the railing on Blake's right, looking south along with her. For several seconds she just looked back with her, the sea air lifting up even her heavy mane of blonde hair and keeping it aloft.

"I slept through the night," Yang finally told her. "First time in months."

"Because he's finally gone?" Blake guessed.

"No," Yang replied. "I'm not giving him any credit for this. Not when I can thank your mom for helping me out instead."

Blake knew that'd come up. Much as she'd like to never discuss Yang and her mother's… _relationship_ again, she knew she had to eventually, and it was probably best to do it now. "She really does like you, you know. Just not… not like _that_."

"I know," Yang nodded. "And that's okay. I'm grateful for the kindness she's shown me. I'll never forget how she was there for me when I needed it."

Blake didn't know if Yang meant to dreg that up. Probably not… it was probably just sincere appreciation for Kali. But Blake couldn't help but feel guilty.

"Weiss told you about what happened with my mom, right?" Yang asked.

"Yeah."

"I was feeling so alone," Yang explained. "I've spent so long being strong that I had no idea how _not_ to be, and with her I didn't always have to. And she needed to be strong for you and for her people, and I gave her a way not to be. We needed each other… and we were in that same bad place at the same time. Kali was…"

Yang abruptly changed her chain of thought. "…I'll never really know how to describe it, but she'll always be special to me. Even if this is all we ever have together."

"It won't be," Blake assured her. "You'll see her again."

"You'll let me?" Yang asked, her tone half a tease.

"If I've learned anything these past few months, Yang, it's not to assume you can't go back," Blake replied. "And even if things aren't the same as they were when you left them, the way you felt in the past will stay with you wherever you go."

"You don't have to-" Yang tried to assure her, but fell silent when Blake raised her hand.

"I'm not," Blake replied. "I'm not saying that we'll just… I'm saying that I'll never forget."

"Me either," Yang agreed.

They looked out at the sea, hands on the railing.

Yang drew slightly closer. She'd always been the bold one.

But Blake had been the one who took more drastic action. From her, it was simply less common.

Blake placed her hand over Yang's. Yang squeezed Blake's hand tight.

"Whatever we are now, whatever we end up as, I only need to know one thing," Yang told her. "When you're scared, you'll tell me. When you doubt, you'll tell me. Just… you don't have to feel any one way, but _please_ : don't leave me again."

"Never," Blake promised.

They were lovers once. That night ended in regret and turned to a bitter memory.

Before that they were dear friends and partners. That thought had been tainted by Blake's departure, but the sole bad memory hadn't quite managed to snuff out all the good ones.

Blake had been afraid of the monster Adam became and feared he'd honor his promise after she saw his brutal attack that left Yang maimed and disabled. Her hope had been restored when Yang returned and dealt him his final ignominious defeat.

Yang had been trapped by abandonment, adrift without a mother's unconditional love or a lover's embrace. All she'd really needed to find her way again was a promise to stay and a hand to hold.

Neither knew what they'd be now, or exactly how they'd felt… but they were together, hand in hand.

* * *

 _Menagerie, Two Weeks Later_

Kali ran her hand over the surface of her husband's casket. The gathered crowd was being patient with her, allowing the widow the chance to grieve, but she knew they could only be patient for so long. Kali gathered her breath and turned to address them.

"My husband was preparing to return to his post as leader of the White Fang," Kali explained. "He knew it would be a terrible responsibility that would eat away all his time. But he was never one to shirk from duty.

"As your Chieftain he defended Menagerie again and again without the need for reward," Kali continued. "He fought for the rights of Faunus he never met and who would never know his name, and for those he knew he only fought harder. He always believed that one day he'd be able to stop fighting and retire in peace… he already tried it once for the sake of his daughter. We never wanted her to fight our battles, but we just couldn't stop her… we couldn't stop her growing up, no matter how we tried.

"My daughter fights alongside humans now, brave ones who fight for the good of everyone," Kali went on. "Ghira can rest easy knowing his daughter carries on his legacy and more than that: she has already brought peace and equality between humans and Faunus. She just needs the rest of the world to catch up."

Kali looked back at the casket. "That's how I want us to remember him: not as Chieftain of Menagerie or first High Leader of the White Fang, but as a father who imparted his teachings to his daughter. I want to remember him as the kind, gentle, _loving_ father… and I want us all to celebrate the life he gave rather than the one he lost. He spent his life doing what was right, and right will still be done in his name long after."

Part of her wanted to say more, to champion his accomplishments. But she was tired. She still hadn't had a truly good night's sleep yet.

She wouldn't have one tonight: she still had to talk to the council and discuss elections for a new chief. And there would be affairs of state to attend to while she still discharged her husband's office. And there was the matter of what to do with the White Fang members slowly returning to Menagerie and whether to raise their flags again.

It'd be a long time before she knew how to sleep again. She'd never stop missing the man being placed in the ground now.

But difficult as the nights had been, thinking of her daughter fighting the good fight helped her through it. She'd always worry, but she worried less when she recalled the firm embrace of another girl traveling alongside her.

Kali hoped she'd see her again. Whatever it was she'd had with Yang, the memory of it helped her remember she wasn't alone in her darkest hour. And she hoped whatever Yang had with Blake –wherever the two were now, whatever they were _feeling_ now- they were happy, or at least content with what they had.

Kali smiled to herself as she thought of the embrace she shared with those she loved, taking a moment to remember how it felt before life went on.


End file.
